During his inspiring first visit to the United States, Rishon L’Sion Chief Rabbi Rav Yitzhak Yosef visited the Magen David Yeshivah Elementary School.
When the Rishon L’Sion arrived, Rabbi David Shelby, a teacher at MDYES and a student of Rabbi Yosef’s father, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef zt’l, introduced his class. The Rabbi blessed them with health and strength to continue to learn Torah.
The Chief Rabbi was then greeted by the MDY boys choir under the leadership of Rabbi Ezra Saban. He blessed the choir leader and the students and then entered the auditorium to be greeted by 500+ students.
In a moving introduction, Rabbi Alan Berkowitz, Principal of MDY Elementary School, said “We are counting from Pesach to Shavuot, anticipating the receipt of the Torah, getting ourselves ready to receive the Torah and ready to learn Torah. This morning, to help us prepare our minds for receiving our Torah, we have the Rishon L’Sion to teach us.”
Chief Rabbi Yosef opened with a story of his father, who gave him a golden necklace with a medallion of the Ten Commandments. He related, “weeks before my father’s passing, I was summoned to his bedroom. My father opened a drawer, and gave me a gift that was more precious than pure gold.” Rav Yosef continued, “What was it? When my father became Chief Rabbi of Israel
41 years ago, he received a gift from the Turkish community, a gold Ten Commandments on a chain.”
He explained the importance of the centrality of Torah to all of the MDY family.
He then turned to the girls in the audience to remind them of their role and responsibility of finding Torah learning husbands, and above all, running homes based on the foundation of Torah. He then turned to the boys and explained their responsibility to continue on the path of Torah and learning Torah.
As he exited, he made several stops to give brachot. It was a visit that all present will cherish for a lifetime.
