Students bring scrolls to Israel in memory of U.S.-born soldier
Among the Abrams Hebrew Academy eighth-graders who traveled to Israel
to celebrate their graduation are, from left, Samantha Lieb, Jacob Couzens,
Ben Cohen, Ben Feder of Titusville, and Elle Nadav. In the background is Rabbi
Isaac Leizerowski. Photo by Marilyn Silverstein
Every year for the past eight years, eighth-graders at the Abrams Hebrew Academy in Yardley, Pa., have traveled to Israel to celebrate their graduation at the Kotel in Jerusalem.
But this year, for the first time, they have an added mission: bringing the most sacred texts of Jewish life to the Jewish state.
The 35 eighth-graders, who left for Israel on May 7, carried with them two kosher Torah scrolls – one for the Jerusalem Police, the other for Battalion 890 of Israel's elite Paratrooper Brigade.
Battalion 890 is the unit in which Michael Levin of Holland Acres, Pa., served before he was killed by sniper fire in southern Lebanon last summer.
"We feel, from this area, that to bring a Torah to this boy's unit is the right thing to do," said Rabbi Ira Budow, head of school at Abrams, as he stood in the Raab Family Midrash with Rabbi Isaac Leizerowski, a Talmud instructor at the school, and several eighth-graders. Both rabbis were planning to accompany the students on the trip.
In the chapel's ark, the curtains were drawn back to reveal two matching Torah scrolls dressed in blue velvet covers with inscriptions in threads of gold. "From a lover of life to defenders of life" read the inscription on the scroll donated by former Yardley residents Frank and Elise Katz in memory of Edward Katz.
"They really loved the idea of doing something that would help Israel," Budow said.
The other Torah scroll, a gift from the school, the Budow family, and members of the community, honors the memory of the rabbi's father, Murray Budow, and an uncle, Nathan Fuchs.
The Israel Defense Forces has arranged for 20 members of Levin's battalion to accept the Katz Torah in his memory on Thursday, May 17, on the plaza in front of the Kotel, according to Leizerowski. The ceremony will be broadcast on the Internet via the Kotel Webcam.
"It's an educational trip. It's a fun trip. And it's also a special trip," said Leizerowski, religious leader of Congregation B'nai Jacob-Dershu Tov in Philadelphia. He noted that during the two-week trip, the students and their teachers would also travel to Tel Aviv, the Golan Heights, the Dead Sea, and the ancient city of Safed. "It's a beautiful thing," he said.
When the students present the other sefer Torah to the Jerusalem Police, Budow said, a grand celebration is planned. "The kids are going to be escorted around Jerusalem in police jeeps," he said.
"You know, " he said, "people go to Israel and it's always: What is Israel going to do for us? I feel strongly that we have to do for Israel."
For Abrams students to present a Torah scroll to paratroopers who served with Levin sends an important message, Budow added. "I think that will make an impression they'll never forget," he said. "This promises to be a very emotional trip. I think the kids are going into this trip knowing there's a mission they have to fulfill."
The students seemed eager to do so. "I think it's a very good thing to do," said Jacob Couzens, 14, of Yardley. "The IDF and the police have done so much. It's good to give back and show them we care."
Elle Nadav, a 14-year-old from Huntingdon Valley, Pa., agreed. "I think it's a really nice thing to do – especially for a little school in Yardley, to show we're always thinking about the IDF," she said. "I'm saying that from my heart."
Ben Cohen, 13, of Lawrenceville, said he was really excited about the trip. "I think it's a great thing to do, giving Torahs to people who need them," he said.
In fact, said 14-year-old Jake Marcus of Lower Merion, Pa., the rabbi's idea of donating the scrolls is giving other Jews what they need to live every day. "This year is very special, because he's helping out soldiers who were with Michael Levin when he was killed," he said. "They lost something, and now they're gaining something."
"I think it's a really great thing Rabbi Budow is doing," said Samantha Lieb, 14, of Newtown. "It's a great mitzva for us and for them."
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