On the fifth day of Chanukah, Yeshivat Frisch celebrated a festive hachnasat sefer Torah.
Over 250 sophomores gathered in the beautiful, newly renovated beit midrash to welcome a sefer Torah dedicated by Shari and Yaakov Markovitz and Tamar and Aaron Sheffey to the yeshiva. Following Hallel, the class lined up in the breezeway of the school to sing and dance as the Torah, carried under a chuppah by members of the family and faculty to the accompaniment of live music, was ushered into its new home in the aron kodesh.
Joshua Markovitz, son of Shari and Yaakov Markovitz, and a sophomore at Yeshivat Frisch, was given the honor of initiating the sefer Torah by leining the morning reading outlining the korbanot brought on the fifth day of Chanukah. His older brothers, Isaac and David, are recent graduates of Yeshivat Frisch.
Head of School Rabbi Eli Ciner expressed his hakarat hatov to the Markovitz and Sheffey families for helping the students at Frisch internalize the message of Chanukah through passing down the mesorah from generation to generation. “The Torah, referred to as a shira, song, becomes part of you through constant reviewing and internalization much like a song.”
Rabbi Josh Wald, associate principal, added to the message by pointing out that even if parents provide their children with a sefer Torah, it is still incumbent upon the next generation to write their own sifrei Torah. In doing so, they corroborate the message conveyed to them by the previous generation and that they will convey to the next generations.
Speaking on behalf of the families, Joshua Markovitz shared the background of the festive occasion. “Parshat Vayelech records the last mitzvah in the Torah, that of writing a sefer Torah. The Pnei Yehoshua, in his commentary on a Gemara in Masechet Kiddushin, notes that the number of letters in a Torah scroll equals 600,000, alluding to the name Yisrael, an acronym for the expression, ‘Yesh shishim ribbo osios l’Torah.’ This number corresponds to the number of Israelites who exited Mitzrayim. From this correspondence, says the Pnei Yehoshua, we learn that every Jew has within his soul one particular mitzvah attached to one particular letter in the Torah. Rav Asher Weiss applies this idea to help describe the joy that we experience on the occasion of a hachnasat sefer
Torah, as we view every Torah scroll as personally connected to us and we are happy to revel in its presence.”
“My family is dedicating this sefer Torah today in memory of the beloved parents of my mother and aunt, Sheldon and Marilyn David, aleihem hashalom. My grandparents were both extremely dedicated and involved members of their community in Flatbush. They served on the boards of the Young Israel of Flatbush and the Yeshiva of Flatbush in many capacities. My grandmother Marilyn was the principal of Yachad’s IVDU high school in Brooklyn, which is currently named in both my grandparents’ memory, to which she committed countless hours ensuring that her students receive the best possible educational experiences both in and out of the classroom. My grandfather Sheldon was a committed baal korei who knew every parsha and taught many of the local bar mitzvah boys for free, simply out of his love and dedication to Torah. That is why our family decided to donate our sefer Torah to Frisch where it will be in constant use by the students. We are sure that Marilyn and Sheldon David, a”h, are pleased that their love of Torah and commitment to Jewish education will be perpetuated in the batei midrash of Yeshivat Frisch.”
By Pearl Markovitz
