What if college students taught Torah to their peers? This bold idea sparked a movement now reaching over two dozen campuses across the nation, bringing Mivtza Torah to an entirely new frontier.
It was the summer of 2021. Sixty-five students had just concluded an inspiring Sinai Scholars retreat in Atlanta, GA, and were heading home. The retreat’s theme centered on the Rebbe’s directive: “If you know aleph, share aleph.” That message deeply resonated with one student in particular: Avin Kreisler, a biomedical science student at Arizona State University.
In a conversation over lunch following the retreat, Rabbi Dubi Rabinowitz, director of JLI’s Sinai Scholars, challenged him: What if you gave Torah classes to your fellow students?
Still feeling the impact of the retreat, he accepted. The following semester, Avin taught a JLI class on campus, and Vayakri was born.
The rest, as they say, is history. Avin has returned to every Sinai Scholars retreat since, now as director, and expanded Vayakri. Today, Vayakri classes are being taught by 42 college students across 24 campuses, with 133 sessions reaching over 650 students to date.
Developed by JLI, the curriculum provides college students with world-class materials, empowering them to teach their peers a wide range of foundational Jewish subjects. Topics range from happiness and gratitude to the deeper meaning behind practical mitzvos such as Tzedaka, Shabbos candles, and Mezuzah.
Behind these numbers are students whose lives have been transformed, not just by what they learned, but by what they taught.
At the keynote speech at Sinai Scholars’ 2023 Retreat, Brynna Barnholtz shared her experience teaching Vayakri at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. “I was supposed to teach a JLI class, titled ‘How to Buy Happiness,’ to my fellow students at Chabad,” she said. “Due to high demand, my Rabbi requested that I teach it twice. I was very nervous to teach this class. It ended up going so well that I was asked to teach this same course at the Retreat this year. This is something I would have never imagined myself doing.”
Many other students echo this transformative experience. “I genuinely appreciate the opportunity to teach and would definitely do so again,” said Daniel Ushyarov of Adelphi University. “Having the experience to sit down with a group of students and teach taught me so much about myself I didn’t know and allowed me to share information that I felt was interesting with a group of students my age. I loved every moment of it.”
Others highlighted how Vayakri allowed them to personalize and connect with their Judaism in a unique way. “It was amazing,” said Adam Abramson of UC Davis. “I’m a communication major, so I was able to connect my knowledge with the material. It was very fun and connected with my passion!” Aron Colman, also from UC Davis, noted, “I think the class was very well written, and I ended up taking away a lot of the lessons myself. I liked how many points for discussion there were — it made the class feel more like a discussion instead of a lecture.”
The program has not only impacted students; it has energized shluchim. “Thank you so much for putting the program together — it’s incredibly empowering to students teaching it,” said Rabbi Dani Libersohn of Chabad at UNR. “It creates a good energy for them to keep on learning. Really amazing for the teaching student — it’s a wonderful, wonderful thing.”
At Duke University, Rabbi Nossen Fellig shared, “I know the program was an amazing, amazing success. It will be an amazing first of many. It was a win-win on every front. We hope to do it on steroids in future years.”
This exponential growth reflects a deeper principle. In his first Maamar accepting the mantle of leadership, the Rebbe cited the Midrash: “Vayikra shem b’Shem Hashem Keil Olam—al tikrei vayikra, ela vayakri.” The Rebbe explained: Our mission is not only to call others closer to Torah, but to turn them into teachers themselves. In turn, our personal “vayikra” would expand exponentially.
The story of Vayakri’s inception embodies precisely that. Spearheaded and now directed by Avin—an alumnus of JLI’s Sinai Scholars program himself—Vayakri is bringing Torah to more students than ever, and in a completely new way.
The Sinai Scholars program of JLI collaborates with Chabad on Campus International to provide Torah study, social programming, and national networking opportunities to college campuses worldwide. Its courses have been translated into four languages and have been taught at over 280 campuses across 15 countries, bringing Torah to more than 45,000 students so far.
This is amazing, so happy to read about this! Thank you COL!
The world is lucky to knwo the likes of you!