On Tuesday, February 9, the ninth grade of Shevach High School was treated to a very special T’hilim siyum. This event was the culmination of a voluntary initiative spearheaded a couple of months ago by their Bei’ur T’filah teacher, Mrs. Beanah Greenberg.
After imparting to the girls the koach of T’hilim, and the girls internalizing that we do our hishtadlus of davening but then relinquish our burdens to Hashem, the class eagerly took up Mrs. Greenberg’s suggestion of trying to say every day, on their own time, the p’rakim of T’hilim for that day of the month. Mrs. Greenberg sent out daily T’hilim reminders and planned this beautiful siyum for the girls, where they each received individually wrapped meals from Carlos and Gabby’s, laid out on gorgeously bedecked tables. But even nicer than the special s’udah was the gift each girl received, which was a beautiful, personally inscribed, illustrated T’hilim.
The girls were welcomed to the siyum by the Shevach Principal, Rebbetzin Rochelle Hirtz, and staff members Rabbi Aryeh Sokoloff and Mrs. Miriam Krohn, all of whom conveyed in their own words how special this accomplishment was. The students were then inspired by a keynote address from Rabbi Ilan Meirov, founder of the Chazaq organization. Rabbi Meirov noted that the words b’simchah and machshavah are comprised of the same letters. He explained that this is to teach us that thoughts have a huge impact on happiness. David HaMelech, despite a life of hardships, was able to always be b’simchah and to compose all the mizmorei T’hilim because of his positive attitude.
After Rabbi Meirov’s dynamic speech, freshmen Adina Davidov, Yael Goldfarb, Chana Tova Kasirer, Tehilla Levant, Devorah Lind, and Yael Zimmerman, all shared their thoughts on different p’rakim of T’hilim. It was clearly evident that the goal of this program was being actualized – that the girls would forge a special lifetime connection with T’hilim. This was evidenced by the fact that many of the girls have already completed the sefer twice and have even started on their third round.
That all the students tremendously enjoyed the evening was reflected in their comments afterwards. In their words: “Thank you for giving me the opportunity for making T’hilim such an important part of my life.” “I look forward to using the beautiful T’hilim you gave us to make it all the more meaningful.” “I am so grateful to start off my High School experience with a teacher like you! Thank you so, so much!” And, “I have never experienced anything like this in my entire life.”
And in the words of parents: “Thank you very much for starting this wonderful initiative and planning such a beautiful siyum!” “We appreciate your efforts to positively encourage the girls’ connection to Hashem through t’filah.” And, “The beauty of this program is that everyone is involved and the girls are unified through saying T’hilim.”
Thank you to freshmen Rochel Becker and Sarah Wiederkehr for reporting on this special event. May the Queens community continue to share such nachas from our young ladies!
