Miami Students Win NY Trip

9 students of the Lubavitch Elementary School in Miami, Florida, won a free trip to visit the Rebbe’s Ohel in New York and attend the Great Lag B’Omer Parade in front of 770 Eastern Parkway.

They were the lucky winners of the Tanya B’al Peh contest which stoked the enthusiasm of the entire elementary school, resulted in a total of over 15,000 lines of Sefer Tanya learned by both the boys’ and girls’ departments.

While some students were motivated by the possibility of winning a trip to New York, having never been to Lubavitch Headquarters or the Ohel, others were inspired by the challenge of learning as many lines as possible by heart.

The idea of being present at and participating in the Great Lag B’Omer Parade was an added bonus! Either way, students were willfully giving up there recess, lunch and PE breaks to be able to learn as much as possible.

The Tanya B’al Peh contest was instituted in honor of the Alter Rebbe, founder of the Chabad movement and author of Sefer Tanya, which is considered the fundamental text of Chabad-Lubavitch philosophy. The contest was also held in honor of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, as a gift for the 112 years since the Rebbe’s birth.

Each day students in grades 1 – 6 patiently waited in line to be tested by parents, classmates and teachers. Even preschool students, who were not officially in the contest, after witnessing the excitement of their older siblings, learned lines on their own and asked to be tested.

In the Elementary school, students from as young as first grade completed an entire chapter. Any preconceptions one may have had of how young children are not fond of memorizing, were proven false by the Tanya B’al Peh contest. With over 90 % of the student body participating, this was an effort to bring Moshaich that no child wanted to miss out on.

The goal of learning Tanya B’al Peh, as instructed by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, is to help spiritually purify the world with the intention bringing Moshiach. Children of all ages, inspired by this objective, gave their best effort to stand by the Rebbe, with the words of Pikei Avos as their motto: “Yogaity u’matzosi, ta’amin”—“If one says, ‘I have worked and I have succeeded,’ believe him.”

Contest winners from the Elementary boys were 3rd graders Uriel Menachem and Mendel Smith, 4th grader Mendel Zavdi, and 6th graders Dovi Pinhas and Mendy Rubinstein. The boys were accompanied by 6th grade teacher Rabbi Yehuda Andusier.

Special mention goes to grand prize winners Tzvi Gotkin, Yehuda Reinetz, Dovid Tennenhaus, and Zalman Steinberg for winning a $100 gift card.

A separate trip was arranged for girls, led by the Elementary school girls program director Chani Dalfin. Winners were Toby Marlow, Simcha Btesh, and Golda Aaronson. Special mention to Rivka Brody, Chana Chanowitz, and Leah Lehr for winning $100 gift card.

The trip was made possible by a generous grant from World Trade Office Solutions and was arranged and secured through the efforts of its local associate Amir Ben-Ishay. A tremendous debt of gratitude to the World Trade Office Solutions Company for its devotion in encouraging and inspiring today’s youth.