During a routine check of Moriah’s mezuzot, Assistant Principal and Director of Middle School Jewish Life Rabbi Eitan Lipstein discovered that Moriah had two mezuzot with potential issues. Together with middle school Gemara rebbe, Rabbi Shlomo Eisenberger (Rabbi E), they decided that this could be a unique learning opportunity for the students. Two classes in each of the seventh and eighth grades were given the text of four of the mezuzot that Rabbi Lipstein had checked. Under the guidance of Rabbi E, they worked in pairs to identify the mistakes or areas of damage. Through the use of halachic texts and fascinating stories, Rabbi E presented the tools that the classes would need to detect any potential problems.

When the unfit mezuzot were identified, the students worked with Moriah’s maintenance staff to create glass containers with a silicon lid for burial. The students learned that this is because unlike ordinary sheimot printed on paper, holy text written on a klaf must be preserved as long as possible. As the students buried the mezuzot in a nearby field, Rabbi E told the moving story of the time he attended the burial service of a sefer Torah that had been burned in a fire.

This was a once in a lifetime, hands-on opportunity for these middle schoolers which they are sure to remember for years to come.