With the culmination of Chanukah coinciding with the start of RPRY’s “Dream It” building campaign, RPRY was looking for a meaningful way to mark the occasion. Highlighting the ideas that the Chashmonaim rededicated themselves to a Torah way of life, not allowing the Greeks to eradicate it, and that the strength in a building lies in its foundation, a full school Chumash-a-thon was the prefect idea. The Chumash-a-thon, an effort for students from nursery-eighth grades to come together in one room and finish the entire Chumash in one hour, was an exciting idea, and while a daunting task, it was the perfect way to emphasize that our building is built on the learning of Torah.
On Friday of Chanukah, when all the students entered the gymnasium rearranged to resemble a large בית מדרש, they entered with a sense of mission and excitement. But, would they be able to do it? Was it really possible to finish the entire Torah in just one hour? Ready! Set! Go! The beginning of Chumash-a-Thon 5784 was announced and students got to work. Every student was assigned a different section of Chumash to complete. Younger students learned stories in בראשית that they had learned, older students began with their bar mitzvah parshas, classes learned in groups to review the material they had covered this year, and other bold students committed to cover the more challenging perakim of Torah. As each perek was completed, students were asked to write a one line summary of their perek on mini Torah scrolls. Students then ran to the front of the room to affix their Torah to a large empty Torah banner hanging in the front of the room.
The energy in the room was electric. The kol Torah filled the room as students young and old, together with their rebbeim and morahs, finished perek after perek. Students ran back and forth to the front of the room as the Torah banner slowly and then very quickly began to fill up with hundreds of summaries of their perakim. Students who completed one perek were asking for another perek and then another! Students who on a regular day struggled to learn were asking to learn more!
As preschoolers joined the room to partake in the festivities, the Chumash-a-Thon concluded with the leining of the final pesukim of the Torah, simcha dancing appropriate for a siyum and a kumzitz singing “Acheinu,” sharing the siyum with acheinu Bnei Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael.
Chumash-a-Thon 5784 will be a memorable event for all students and will solidify the foundations of RPRY’s new building which will continue to teach Torah for many years to come.
