Shomrei Torah of Fair Lawn held its 11th annual Torah Tuesday Sunday breakfast event on May 14, sharing the spotlight with Mother’s Day and Lag B’Omer. The festivities began with a hearty breakfast, highlighted by the program’s traditional scrambled eggs, cheese and onions.
This year marked a change to this long-standing tradition, if not in substance, then in name. It is now known as the Naftali Aron Torah Enrichment Program. The Torah Tuesday entity was the main honoree at the Shul’s annual dinner held this past March. It was during the dinner that the program was renamed. Mendy Aron, the program’s creator and force behind its growth, had dedicated the new designation to include his late father’s name to honor his memory.
The program hasn’t been a Tuesday-only occasion for a number of years. It has grown into a learning group held every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, plus once a month on Sundays. About 30 full and part timers, mainly retirees who want to start off the day on the right foot, attend. There is no sign of slowdown for one of the longest running breakfast and learning programs in Bergen County. The kickoff of the 12th year began the very next day.
This year’s breakfast honoree was Dr. Howard Neur, who made his mark at Shomrei Torah despite having lived in Fair Lawn for just three years. Neur regularly participated in the rotation as one of the learning leaders, doing so for the better part of two years. He often followed Rabbi Yudin in the morning rotation.
Dr. Neur will be moving to Chicago this summer with his wife, Miriam, and children Shalom, Gabi and Shaina, ages 6, 4 and 2. As a post-doctoral mathematician, he received a prestigious fellowship grant and job offers from a number of universities. He chose to accept the one from the University of Illinois in Chicago. The position is a three-year assignment. Only 30 people in the country across the entire field of mathematics are bestowed such an honor. He was one of only three to receive it for his area of specialty, algebraic geometry. So what does that involve, exactly? Dr. Neur explained that “It’s the study of geometry defined by polynomial equations.” He’ll be continuing his work on the “String Theory” in theoretical physics. If you want more detail and further explanation, you’ll have to ask him.
The formal part of the program was an encore presentation of Momele, a Mother’s Day video tribute to many mothers who are members of Shomrei Torah, as well as their own mothers. This was followed by brief opening remarks by Jay Bloom, current co-president of the shul.
Rabbi Benjamin Yudin was the next presenter. He recounted the story of Rav Shimon Bar Yochai, who fled the Roman Government and hid in a cave with his son for over 10 years. Hashem made a carob tree sprout in front of the cave, along with a spring of water, to sustain them. They learned Torah in the cave day and night, withdrawing from the surrounding world. Rabbi Yudin compared it to the breakfast program participants, who have chosen to withdraw from their regular daily activities during the mornings when the program takes place. “It’s an injection,” he said. “I know it makes a difference.” He then called out the names of each program attendee, and had them approach the lectern for a group photo and a gift. He offered a special acknowledgement to Aron, thanking him for his “incredible sense of commitment to the program.”
Rabbi Yudin then introduced Dr. Neur, speaking briefly about loving your fellow Jew as yourself, and how the honoree not only teaches the concept, but lives it. He presented Dr. Neur with a mezuzah cover for his new home, to “Our teacher and true friend.”
In Dr. Neur’s acceptance speech, he spoke of the concept of sanctifying and not desecrating Hashem’s name. He talked of ways we can perform the sanctification by our presence in this world, and spoke of how we can offer that testimony in our daily business activities. He concluded by saying he hopes his family can be true ambassadors to Hashem as they move on to the new stage of their lives
By Robert Isler
Robert Isler is a marketing researcher and a senior content writer who lives in Fair Lawn. He can be reached at [email protected].
