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.