Thanks to Rabbi Joel Cohn, former principal of SAR who now resides and teaches in the IsraEd remote learning program in Israel, and to Zoom, seven local yeshivot combined the power of prayer with sheer numbers to support Ukraine. Over 1,200 students participated from their separate yeshiva campuses, and more than 60 additional participants were also logged on to the Zoom event. The Yeshivat Noam tech team of Shiah Bernstein and Nicholas Kourian coordinated the hookup between all the schools.
Rabbi Yitzchok Motechin, assistant principal at Yeshivat Noam, opened the program with words of chizuk about the power of tefillah, hope to Hashem, and our collective duty to pray for the safety and welfare of others who are forced into harm’s way. He strongly encouraged the students and everyone to be creative in figuring out ways to help. For example, he shared the slide of an ad by a student to raise funds for the communities in Ukraine by babysitting.
The students were addressed next via video message by one of the towering Torah figures in our generation and a role model of resilience: Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich. His message was to join in doing mitzvot, especially b’simcha, and that this idea is “the foundation of strength that we all need.”
Four perakim of Tehillim were led by representatives from four of the schools. Perek 20 was recited by Collin Goldstein of Ben Porat Yosef; Perek 121 was led by Jacob Fenster of Moriah; Yosef Brukner of Yeshivat Noam recited Perek 124; and Chabad of Tenafly was represented with Tehillim by David Kritchevsky.
Jordana Baruchov, middle school dean of Yavneh Academy’s middle school, shared a story about how we connect to Hashem and elevate ourselves through the korbanot. She focused on the idea to “drink in this message,” as the korbanot give us pause to connect to not only Hashem but to ourselves and each other as we pause with prayer and seize the spiritual energy to help and elevate each other.
A Y’hi Ratzon recitation was delivered by Rabbi Binyamin Weinreich of Yeshiva He’Atid, and the closing special tefillah of Kel Maleh was recited by Rabbi Avi Bernstein of RYNJ.
