Maryland Lieutenant Governor visits Cheder Chabad
Excitement started building up amongst the student in Cheder Chabad of Maryland as the news was shared that the Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, His Honour Mr. Boyd Rutherford would be visiting their school.
In light of the recent horrific attack in Pittsburgh the Lieutenant Governor decided to visit Cheder to demonstrate his solidarity with the Jewish community and to show his support for school safety.
Upon arrival at the Cheder Chabad Campus, His Honour was welcomed by the 2nd and 4th grade girls with creative and beautifully decorated signs welcoming the Lieutenant Governor and thanking him for the current administration’s support for Jewish Day Schools in Maryland and Cheder in Particular.
The Lieutenant Governor was then warmly and respectfully greeted by the over 200 Cheder Chabad Elementary and Middle School students. A close personal friend of the Lieutenant Governor and the Director of the Jewish Uniformed Services Association of Maryland, Rabbi Chesky Tenenbaum began the welcoming ceremony with a prayer for the victims of the attack in Pittsburgh and for the speedy recovery of the wounded.
Regional Director of Chabad in the state of Maryland, Rabbi Shmuel Kaplan introduced the Lieutenant Governor by describing the warm relationship that the Lieutenant Governor has with our community and his being a true “mentch” in every sense of the word.
His Honour expressed his great surprise and appreciation for the lavish welcome he received from the students and “apologized” to them for taking them away from their studies. He spoke with the students about the importance of civic engagement and the administration’s efforts to address school safety. “We will always stand in solidarity with the Jewish people and our robust Jewish community here in Maryland.” He thanked Rabbi Tenenbaum for inviting him to visit the school, for giving him the opportunity to enjoy Shabbos dinners and to learn about our community.
The principal of the Boy’s School, Rabbi Aharon Matusof thanked the Lieutenant Governor for the state’s support of Jewish Day Schools; in particular for the variety of grants available to Private Schools. Rabbi Matusof then led the children in singing “Oseh Shalom,” asking G-d to bestow peace upon the entire world.
Rabbi Matusof then introduced a friend of the Lieutenant Governor, 6th Grader Yehoshua Tenenbaum who represented all the students in Cheder thanking the Lieutenant Governor for all his efforts on behalf of Cheder.
At the conclusion of the welcoming ceremony all “generals” in the Tzivos Hashem program got to take a group picture with the Lieutenant Governor who personally congratulated each of them for their efforts in being promoted to General.
The Executive Director of Cheder Chabad, Rabbi Avrohom Wolowik gave the Lieutenant Governor a tour of the 65,000 square foot campus of Cheder Chabad, giving His Honour the opportunity to personally observe the classes in action and to interact with individual students and faculty.
