A fiery, flame-like shiur from The Rav Rabbi Berland shlit"a ○ Reading the verses of “Vayikra” with the pure children ○ Distribution of the Chumash by The Rav Rabbi Berland shlit"a to the tinokos shel beis rabban ○ An extensive report from the Chumash celebration

Last week, on Thursday, the 15th of Tammuz— the yahrtzeit of the holy Ohr HaChaim— the first-grade children of the Talmud Torah “Breslov – Nechamas Tzion,” under the leadership of Rabbi Nosson Chananya shlit"a and under the presidency of The Rav Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, celebrated their Chumash celebration in honor of beginning the study of Sefer Vayikra. The Chumash celebration took place in the Sanhedrin Halls on Minchas Yitzchak Street in the Holy City, may it be rebuilt and established. At the start of the event, the excited children arrived with crowns of Torah upon their heads, dressed “like a groom in the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his heart’s joy.” The children entered with singing and dancing in honor of the Torah, pleading: “May He open our hearts in His Torah…” After that came opening words from one of the melamdim, and then the pure children began a special song for this great day—when they merited to begin learning from a Chumash. They continued with the song “When Israel sits and engages…” Afterward they recited Tehillim chapters 121 and 128, and the song “For this child I prayed…” poured through the hall, as all the moved parents and grandparents sang with tremendous deveikus. After that came the “speech of the celebration” from the pure child Naftali ben David, who read—together with the clear explanation—from the Gemara in Maseches Sukkah, daf 42. Then they sang the song of the parshiyos with wondrous sweetness.

The pure children merited that The Rav Rabbi Berland shlit"a came to participate in the Chumash celebration. As The Rav shlit"a entered, they began singing “Or Zarua LaTzaddik” and several other songs. They also sang a number of heartfelt melodies: “Breslov is burning a fire…” and “May Your mercies be rolling forth…” After that came the “students’ dialogue,” which concluded with a mighty roar of pure breath from tinokos shel beis rabban who have not tasted the taste of sin: “Na’aseh v’nishma!”

Afterward, the supervisor Rabbi Altman spoke in praise of the important melamdim, Rabbi Yechiel and Rabbi Zucker, as well as all the members of the administration who invest their energy and their time so that every child will grow in Torah and yiras Shamayim, in the pure path of Rebbe Nachman, as The Rav shlit"a has bequeathed to us. Above all stands the director of the institutions, Rabbi Nosson Chananya, may he live long, who gives his entire self for the sake of the future generation throughout all the institutions— for the future of Shuvu Banim. Here one could see The Rav shlit"a going beyond himself and applauding Rabbi Nosson Chananya, may he live long, for his tremendous activity.

After that, The Rav shlit"a began delivering a fiery, flame-like shiur on Parshas Pinchas and on the greatness of humility and lowliness. Below is a segment from the shiur: “We begin with ‘Vayikra’ with a small aleph. The entire inyan of ‘Vayikra’ is a small aleph. Only if a person is a small aleph can he receive the Torah. All of life, one must guard the small aleph. Because the yud is the Tzaddik, and below it is the talmid. A person must always be in the aspect of a talmid—always a small aleph—and then he is able; then he reveals the entire Torah. Because when a person has yeshus (self-importance), he was formed from dust; the material—the body—is yeshus, and the body entices a person. Therefore one must pour blood [as brought in Parshas Pinchas] into the ear. And also the metzora—one who speaks slander—because how can a person speak slander about a person?! One who speaks slander has no share in the World to Come.”

The Rav shlit"a continued speaking from Torah 10, and also spoke about the greatness of Shabbos— and the 17th of Tammuz, when we receive the first Luchos. After that he spoke about the power of parents’ prayers for their children, and mentioned Sisera’s mother: even though she cried over her son who was wicked, still we must sweeten this through the one hundred shofar blasts on Rosh Hashanah. He then spoke about the greatness of song and niggun, and mesirus nefesh, mentioning Serach bas Asher— and in the middle of his words The Rav began to sing, “Od Yosef chai u’melech b’Mitzrayim…” Afterward he concluded with fiery words about the greatness of the moment. And as preparation for the great moment—when they would begin learning the Chumash—the children began singing “Vihi Noam…” After several minutes of uplifting song, The Rav shlit"a, with his pure voice, began to read together with the tinokos shel beis rabban the first verses of Sefer “Vayikra,” together with the “teitch”—the translation. How magnificent it was to see the voices of the pure children blending together with the pure and refined voice of the Tzaddik.

At the end of the reading, the singing burst forth: “Blessed is He Who created us for His honor…” and the song “If people would feel…”—from the holy and exalted words of the בעל ההילולא, the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh—about the sweetness and pleasantness of the holy Torah. This was joined by the children’s choir of the precious fourth-grade boys, who—after the singing, in the presence of The Rav shlit"a—were tested by heart on the entire Maseches Yoma! They concluded with the song: “In the holy Torah there is a supernal power to restore the soul!”

Then came the great moment— the moment that is engraved in the heart of every Jewish child until his final day—when he receives the Chumash into his hands. The children merited to receive the Chumash from the holy hands of The Rav shlit"a, as The Rav blessed each and every child that he should never cease from words of Torah. The children’s choir together with the orchestra accompanied each child back to his place with the song: “May it be the will before Hashem, that he grow in Torah and in yiras Hashem…”

After that, the children’s representative, Shmuel Haleli, spoke and thanked Hashem, and The Rav shlit"a, and the entire staff, and the parents. At the conclusion of the Chumash celebration, The Rav Rabbi Berland shlit"a left the hall, and the excited parents lifted their children onto their shoulders and, with the joy of Torah, broke out in dancing in honor of the Torah.