For roughly a dozen years, Shimon's Pizza was home to "Torah Study: Pizza And Parshah," a program of Queens NCSY and its sister group JSU, run by Rabbi Avrohom Walkin and his assistant Daniel Eisenberg. The program gave children in public school and some from Hebrew school the amazing opportunity to connect with their Jewish heritage. Today, Rabbi Walkin continues this effort as a Director of Chazaq's JWave Boys division. For pizzaiolo Mo Harary, hosting this program at his shop was a delight. "Mo could not be more thankful to us for using his store to spread Torah and inspire Hashem's children," explained Rabbi Walkin.
The weekly program was sometimes renamed "Mizza and Marshah," or "Wizza And Warshah," after the days of the week the program occurred. There was also "Falafel and Philosophy: Pizza, Parsha, Patriotism, Pizza And Pergola," as well as the Sukkos theme of "Pizza In A Hut," all meant to attract the youngsters. "There were special occasions when I invited Mo's son Charlie to address the program. This was well before Charlie became a world-renowned lecturer," said Rabbi Walkin. "To some of the kids, Torah study was the highlight of their week. It was exciting as could be with a week's worth of a build-up. The 45 minutes we spent together was simply like heaven."
