It was a full house in the Berger Auditorium at the Rabbinical College of America in Morristown, NJ, on Sunday morning.
Families of students joined their children and siblings for a catered breakfast and to celebrate the graduation of the first semicha class of Yeshiva Tiferes Bachurim.
The two-year program was taught by Rabbi Avraham Hirsch Levin, uniquely skilled at guiding the students through the intricate texts and clarifying the complicated concepts so that they are fully accessible.
Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Zalman Dubinsky welcomed those assembled. He emphasized that Tiferes is not only a Yeshiva where students come to learn for a month or a year, it is also a family. “Its students do not come to only learn an academic subject but a way of life,” he said.
Dr. Craig Granowitz of the Rabbinical College of America’s board of trustees spoke of the efforts to ensure every student a stable career through partnering with alumni as well as local firms businesses and hospitals.
Other students and parents shared thoughts, reflections, and appreciations as well, including Ari Goldwaser who has just graduated and begun residency in Morristown Memorial Hospital.
Goldwaser’s mother also spoke, recalling how as a child Ari would color with his crayons “outside the lines.” She said, “As parents we need to allow our children the freedom to express themselves outside the norm, as difficult as this may be for us.”
She later commented “Ari’s time spent in Yeshiva by proxy, was our own time spent as well. The knowledge is regenerated, recycled and it is definitely true that our children begin to teach us very important lessons in life.”
The highlight of the morning was an address by an influential parent, who spoke fondly of his memories sitting with his grandfather and seeing him taking tefillin from the break-front in the living room before putting them on.
On Sunday morning, in the Yeshiva minyan, he himself donned tefillin for the first time in his life. He spoke about his son Eric, and about the many overwhelming challenges Eric has faced in his life.
Highly intelligent, and deeply sensitive, but handicapped in other ways, Eric was able with the help and fortitude of his mother and the friendship and guidance of his father to develop into a very capable and accomplished young man.
In Yeshiva in Morristown, Eric found a place where he can shine. A place where he is loved and he can be himself, a place he can call home.
Upon concluding his emotional address, those assembled spontaneously rose to a standing ovation, and Eric and his father embraced, there was not a dry eye in the room.
VIDEO: 8 clips from the event
We want more….
can we see the video of the moving talk by the father?
Can we get the full video