JANAURY 6 • 2022 | 27

D

uring the fall and winter months, 
Young Israel of Southfield 
(YIOS) hosts a weekly Saturday 
night Torah learning program for the 
entire family. The program is called 
Veshinatam Levanecha, which is a phrase 
borrowed from the Shema, which means 
that you should thoroughly teach your 
children (words of Torah.) 
Approximately 30 minutes after 
Shabbat concludes, parents and 
children, both boys and girls, as well as 
grandparents and grandchildren, gather 
in the synagogue’s Beit Midrash to study 
Torah as a family unit. Each week, the 
entire Beit Midrash is filled to capacity 
with participants who are Young Israel of 

Southfield members, as well as those who 
attend and participate from the larger 
Metropolitan Detroit Jewish community. 
Each family decides what they would 
like to study. The rabbi of the synagogue, 
Rabbi Yechiel Morris, also assists fami-
lies to select areas of study that would be 
most appropriate. 
In addition, the synagogue recent-
ly dedicated a children’s Torah study 
library in the Beit Midrash that contains 
age-appropriate Torah study books that 
families have access to during the pro-
gram. The library was donated by Young 
Israel of Southfield members in loving 
memory of Rabbi Morris’ nephew, Donny 
Morris, who passed away last year during 

the festivities in Meron, Israel on Lag 
b’Omer. 
Following the weekly study, Rabbi 
Morris engages with all the children, ask-
ing them some thought-provoking ques-
tions and encouraging their answers 
and reflections. The synagogue’s youth 
director, Rabbi Ari Steinig, also makes 
youth-related announcements following 
the Torah study. The program concludes 
with pizza, snacks and drinks. 
 The refreshments and the Torah study 
are sponsored each week by a different 
family. Veshinantam Levanecha has been 
in existence for 20 years. It was created by 
Rabbi Morris when he became rabbi of 
Young Israel of Southfield in 2002. 

LEFT: A partial view of the filled room in the Beit Midrash during Veshinantam Levanecha. MIDDLE: Kyle and Micah Lonn study Torah together in 
the Beit Midrash at YIOS. RIGHT: Following the weekly study, Rabbi Morris asks the children about what they learned.

Family Torah Learning at 
Young Israel of Southfield

PHOTOS COURTESY OF YIOS

FAR LEFT: 
The Idler 
family studies 
in the new 
Donny Morris 
Children’s 
Learning 
Library. 

LEFT: The 
Reinhertz 
family stud-
ies together 
Saturday nights 
at YIOS.

