One of the greatest milestones in a child’s life is when they receive their first chumash and students in the JEC lower school’s first grade celebrated their Chagigat HaChumash with great fanfare and excitement this week.

“The children were all so exuberant!” enthused JEC lower school Assistant Principal Dr. Goldie Grossman. “They sang with broad smiles and sparkling eyes, and you could see how much this very special occasion meant to each child.”

Led by their teachers Vivi Singfer and Leslie Brown, and accompanied on piano by Chana Salomon, the students performed their chumash play in full period costume beautifully and with confidence for the capacity audience of parents, grandparents, siblings and friends.

“It was an electric performance,” exclaimed Rabbi Uzi Beer, principal of the JEC lower school. “The students showed such pride and they were so excited to receive their first chumash. They glowed. Through song and skit, they reviewed and reflected the beginning of creation through matan Torah, when the Jewish people were chosen to receive the Torah. It was a beautiful experience as each child, one by one, was called up to receive their chumash.”

The evening ended with a Light Up the Night light show as the students were all adorned in glow in the dark gear, symbolizing the light of Torah, in which they will now formally partake.