Torah Is Our Favorite!

There's always a photo booth at Beit Rabban events, and we always have one sign that reads "Torah is My Favorite!" A picture of a child, student, parent, etc., holding this sign with a gigantic smile is a staple Beit Rabban simcha photo.

This morning, our entire community gathered to watch our second graders stand before us and read from the Torah for the first time—and, in doing so, claim their place in our sacred chain of Jewish learning. We cheered as our students chanted with confidence, handled their handmade yads with care, and beamed with pride. This day is so big that it rivals graduation for the biggest day on the Beit Rabban calendar. If you ask a student in middle school what their favorite memory of Beit Rabban has been, they will likely tell you that it was the Torah Reading Ceremony. Which begs the question: why do we make such a big deal out of a second-grade program?

We invest so profoundly in this "moment" because it conveys this community's shared values to our children in the most affective of ways. We make a big deal out of this because we want our children to see that this very diverse Jewish community is committed to deep and thick Jewish fluency, which requires investment, thought, and partnership.

Their Chumashim weren't gifts—they were birthrights, earned through dedication and partnership with our entire community. These students didn't just perform; they demonstrated months of deep work to master biblical Hebrew, trope, and translation, and to interpret the story of Creation. They are ready to receive their Chumashim because they have worked long and hard to develop an appreciation for the Torah's multifaceted beauty, wisdom, and holiness. We want them to feel that they are carrying a legacy and responsibility for our entire community, that carrying this legacy is hard work, that they have the power to carry it forward with creativity, and that it feels great to do so. Indeed, we rely on them to do so. As I share with the students every year, God passed along the responsibility to continue to create and re-create the world to us, to them. We bless them that the words of the Torah always inspire them to create for the good of our people and the world.

We are so grateful to be part of a community that shares this love for our anchoring text and invests in thick, meaningful, and joyful Judaism.

There's a reason our kids love Torah!