Impressive Conclusion Ceremony for the Torah Campaign at the Cheder Menachem Talmud Torah in the Russian Capital
In the uplifting atmosphere of the Chassidic days of the month of Tammuz, which shine with an inner light of spiritual elevation and Geulah, the walls of the large ‘Marina Roscha’ Jewish Community Center in the Russian capital echoed with the pure voices of tinokos shel beis rabban. The central Talmud Torah “Cheder Menachem,” which serves as a beacon of al taharas hakodesh education and the raising of generations of Chassidim and God-fearing Jews, marked a spiritual climax of toil and effort in the Oral Torah at an event that left its mark on the entire community.
This special and heavily invested evening was held in the magnificent banquet hall of the Jewish Center, gathering the institution’s students, the staff of melamdim, and the talmidim hashluchim who assisted greatly in organizing and ensuring the project’s success. The ceremony served as the final chord of a large-scale memorization and study campaign, launched and devotedly managed by the educator Rabbi Yeshaya Dovber Gross. Over the course of the two-month campaign, the students achieved an extraordinary milestone, collectively memorizing over eight hundred blatt of Gemara and more than twelve thousand Mishnayos!
A moment of special nachas was recorded when the secretary of the Chief Rabbinate of Russia, the shliach Rabbi Zalman Shimon HaKohen Deren, was invited to the podium. He read before the honorees and attendees the special letter of blessing sent for the event by the founder and head of the institutions, the Chief Rabbi of Russia, the Gaon Rabbi Berel Lazar shlita. In his moving letter, the Chief Rabbi quoted the words of the Lubavitcher Rebbe zy”a regarding the purification of the air accomplished through the letters of the Torah, emphasizing to the children that their learning impacts both the world around them and their own inner souls, as explained in the teachings of the Alter Rebbe n”e. He expressed his amazement at the tremendous effort invested and sent a warm blessing for continued spiritual ascent in Torah.
Later in the evening, addresses were delivered by the community director, Rabbi Mordechai Weisberg, and the director of the Talmud Torah, Rabbi Avraham Gevirtz, who highly praised the students’ diligence and the dedication of the educational staff, headed by the director of educational institutions in Moscow, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Lipsker.
As the official part of the event concluded, the campaign honorees came forward to receive elegant certificates of appreciation and a personal gift for each student, as a token of recognition for their praiseworthy perseverance. The material climax of the event was reflected in the raffles for valuable prizes, as well as the rare opportunity to win a charity coin from the holy hand of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. The children left the hall with their faces radiating the joy of a mitzvah, equipped with an immense spiritual charge that will continue to accompany them on their path of ascent within the tent of Torah, with a prayer that the merit of studying the Mishnayos will hasten the complete Geulah very soon.
The director of the “Chiyuch Halev” educational institution, the mashpia and shliach Rabbi Avraham Elimelech Gadz’, enhanced the atmosphere with soul-stirring niggunim of dveikus and a special song he performed alongside his son, who also earned the title of Chatan Torah—a special song that revolves around parents’ prayers for their children.
Photography: Ilya Dolgopolsky
