Certificates of Achievement were proudly awarded to twenty-three 7th & 8th-graders, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, of the North Shore Hebrew Academy (NSHSA) Middle School, attesting to the students successfully and melodically chanting Megillat Esther (Scroll of Esther) on Purim Day, March 10, at the NSHA Cherry Lane Campus, for their fellow students, parents, grandparents, teachers, and administrators. The Ashkenazic students were instructed by Great Neck Estates resident Dr. Paul Brody (2nd from left, holding Megillah), who initiated this unique program 19 years ago, in 2002, and has taught over 325 students. Dr. Brody is donning the well over 100-year-old Tallit (Prayer Shawl) of his "Zaydie," (Grandfather), Rabbi Jacob Brown zt"l, who convinced him in 1972 that learning the "Gantze (Whole) Megillah" was not insurmountable. Head of School, Rabbi Dr. Jeffrey Kobrin (far left), and Middle School Principal, Rabbi Adam Acobas (far right) - who this year instructed the Sephardic students - arranged for the Megillah readers to find time in their hectic schedules to prepare with Dr. Brody. Seventh-grader, Jakob Baum (4th from left) "hangs" a composite of modern day Hamans, who have unsuccessfully tried to destroy the Jewish People throughout history.
Photo credit: Abigail Zausmer
