In celebration of Hebrew Academy’s half-century of providing a Jewish education to Montrealers, hundreds of students united to study 50 Mishnayot together on the 50th day of its 50th year.
In what the school termed a “Mishnathon,” about 500 students from the elementary and high schools joined together for an hour of learning in the Hebrew Academy gym-turned-giant-study-hall, which was decorated with colourful tablecloths and helium balloons.
Seated at 50 tables, senior and junior students were paired with one another and assigned one of 50 Mishnayot to explore, using guiding questions and engaging activities. The Mishnah is an authoritative collection of the oral Torah, which forms part of the Talmud.
“Today is the 50th day of the 50th year in the illustrious history of Hebrew Academy,” said head of school Kalman Stein in his opening address. “That means that this is the 8,870th day that Hebrew Academy students have been studying Torah in our school. If one multiplies that by the number of hours we study Torah each day and by the number of students who’ve studied at Hebrew Academy each year, (our) students have learned approximately 12 million hours of Torah in their classes during the last 49-plus years. Wow!”
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The excitement was palpable among both the teens and children, who were full of energy and proud to be celebrating the milestone event.
“My favourite part about the morning was learning with the younger kids,” said Grade 6 student Liela Silbiger. “I liked how they tried to understand what we were learning and that I was able to help them. We did a fun activity together afterwards.”
True to Hebrew Academy’s mission, the initiative was conceived by elementary director of Judaic studies, Jordana Levy, who organized it together with high school dean of Jewish life and Judaic studies department head, Rabbi Eddie Shostak.
“What a wonderful opportunity to pause and to celebrate as a full student body the Torah that was learned for the last 50 years, that is learned every day and, God willing, will be learned at Hebrew Academy for many years to come,” said Rabbi Shostak.
The two chose Mishnayot from Pirkei Avot as the source material “because that section of the Talmud deals mostly with two themes that have been the foundation of Hebrew Academy for the past 50 years: the centrality of the Torah in our lives and the use of Torah values as a guidelines for how one is to behave in life,” said Levy.
The assembly culminated with the distribution of sweets to all students, sponsored by two Hebrew Academy families.
“It was so wonderful to see our entire school population learning Torah under one roof,” said executive director Linda Lehrer. “To watch Grade 11 students learning with Grade 1 students was remarkable. Only at Hebrew Academy!”
