Three hundred boys, hailing from seventh-grade classes throughout the Midwest, gathered at a new wedding hall in Chicago for an event

Photo: Berkman Studios /Agudath Israel of Illinois

Two years ago, at the Torah Umesorah convention, six menahalim met with the late rosh yeshivah of Telshe Chicago, Rav Shmuel Yehudah Levin ztz”l, to discuss various ideas to help inspire young, middle-school age boys. Last week, the fruits of that discussion blossomed.

Three hundred boys, hailing from seventh-grade classes throughout the Midwest, gathered at a new wedding hall in Chicago for an event that began at 3 p.m. and ended at 12 a.m. The boys were treated to a catered lunch and supper, entertainment, joined together for a seder limud, and were inspired by numerous speeches from rabbanim and mechanchim.

The gathering didn’t mark a particular occasion or milestone; instead it celebrated the boys themselves — and the royal legacy they are perpetuating.

Rabbi Heshy Forster, menahel of Chicago’s Yeshiva Ohr Boruch, pointed out that the event was in fact a wedding celebration, and that the lavish venue was truly apropos.

“The relationship between Klal Yisrael and the Torah is like that of husband and wife,” he told the audience. “We’re celebrating our connection to the Torah. It’s truly the celebration of a marriage.”

As beautiful as the event was, there was a gaping void where Rav Shmuel Yehuda Levin, the visionary who foresaw it all, would have been. But as Rabbi Nosson Muller, menahel of Chicago’s Yeshivas Tiferes Tzvi, assured the boys in his address, while Rav Shmuel Yehudah may not have been physically present, his neshamah was certainly present.

“The Zohar says the neshamos of the ancestors come down to a chuppah. So, too, Rav Shmuel Yehudah has certainly come down to join in the chuppah between us and the Torah,” said Rabbi Muller poignantly.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 963)