This morning the Lower School traded Kabbalat Shabbat for a special ceremony in celebration of our second graders, who received their first-ever Chumash.

The annual Chumash Ceremony marks the beginning of these students' Torah study, which they'll continue through the rest of their years at Schechter. To demonstrate their understanding of Sefer Bereshit, the students walked us through the first parsha of the Torah, which details the creation of the world. As they sang excitedly in English and Hebrew, dressed as the birds in the sky and the fishes in the sea, they also showed their excitement for carrying the stories and traditions of the Torah in their daily lives.

Rabbi David Lerner, whose son Levi is a second-grader at Schechter LI, made remarks during the ceremony.

“The Chumash is a living tree . . . that nourishes who we are," he said. "[It is] the most important gift that we as a Jewish people have ever received.”

Mazal Tov Kitah Bet on this astounding achievement!