Students Receive Awards for Tanya Baal Peh

Students of Yeshiva Oholei Torah of Crown Heights learned Tanya by heart for a program launched by Rabbi Mordechai and Mrs. Shterney Kanelsky, of the Bris Avrohom Center in Hillside, NJ, in loving memory of their beloved daughter, Bat Sheva ob”m, who passed away seven years ago.

The Bas Sheva Mitzvah Campaign to Greet Moshiach recognizes boys who learn Tanya bal peh and rewards them with a colorful, personalized, laminated certificate, as well as a monetary stipend based on how much was learned. Some boys learned one perek, and a few as many as 12 chapters. After the boys learned their perokim, they were tested on the entire amount at once by one of the rebbeim to prove their knowledge. After the awards were distributed, the boys were treated to a deluxe luncheon in honor of their great achievements. In the past seven, hundreds and hundreds of boys have participated in this program and earned well deserved gifts for their efforts.

Both Rabbi and Mrs. Kanelsky spoke to the boys about their experiences in Soviet Russia. The Rabbi spoke about his childhood, when he was the same age as the boys in the audience. He told how he had to learn Tanya in a darkened basement, hidden from the authorities. He reminded the boys how lucky there were to be learning Tanya in a free country, where they can learn in a joyful and fun manner.

Mrs. Kanelsky spoke about the mesiras nefesh of her family and how hard it was for them to maintain their Yiddishkeit. In all the years of living under the watchful eye of the Soviet authorities, they never once desecrated Shabbos or Yom Tov. She told a story about her eldest brother, who is now the Chief Rabbi of the Russian Jewish community in Toronto. Her mother tried to keep him hidden from the authorities for as long as possible, to delay having him start the Russian school. There, he would have been unable to wear his yarmulka or tzitzis, and he would be forced to learn secular subjects instead of holy studies. Despite some close calls, they managed to protect him at home until age ten. Mrs. Kanelsky spoke about the great comfort she and her husband feel from knowing that these boys are learning Tanya in memory of their beloved daughter. They both urged the boys to continue learning and to always be a source of nachas to their families, their yeshiva and the Rebbe.