Connected by the shared gift, father and son recited Tehillim together

Elisha Schmell could barely contain his excitement as he received his Chanukah gift. For over three decades, his rebbi, Rabbi Mordechai Florans of Yeshiva of South Shore, has been gifting each talmid with an inscribed Sefer Tehillim in honor of Chanukah, and this year was no different.

After months of closures, confusion, and upheaval, the Sefer Tehillim was the perfect gift, and the veteran rebbi explained to his charges just how powerful Dovid Hamelech’s work is, thousands of years later.

When Elisha got home from school, he proudly showed the gift to his father, Reb Yoel.

Yoel Schmell paused for a moment, then walked to the bookshelf and pulled out his own Sefer Tehillim, which Rabbi Florans had given him 28 years ago, when he was in third grade!

Connected by the shared gift, father and son recited Tehillim together — and once Chanukah vacation was over, Elisha hurried back to yeshivah with a gift of his own: a nachas report to a rebbi who has been giving it his all for more than 30 years.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 842)