One simple request turned into a special learning program for Moriah middle school, spanning the last 13 years. Akiva Fuchs (‘04) was just looking for a little extra learning experience leading up to his bar mitzvah. So he approached his rebbe, Rabbi Eisenberger (affectionately known as “Rabbi E”) with the idea to learn the Chofetz Chaim’s Sefer HaMitzvot. The idea was to learn one mitzvah a day and finish the sefer by the time Akiva finished middle school.

Word spread, and other boys expressed interest in joining in the initiative. Each morning after minyan while their classmates went off to breakfast, a handful of middle school boys would stick around and learn one mitzvah with Rabbi E.

This year, the ninth group of Moriah boys will be finishing Sefer HaMitzvot. This group is made up of Shmuel Hilbert, Yair Ashendorf, Yaakov Feit, and Zalman Moskowitz. Just like the eight groups before them, these four boys will be completing the entire sefer in roughly one and a half years.

With learning just one mitzvah a day, these students have accomplished a tremendous amount of Torah learning, all thanks to a small request by one student. It just goes to show how a simple request can produce an amazing accomplishment. Who knew how much Torah would be studied from a simple request!