In the world of Torah, being a superhero is far from fantasy

The South Peninsula Hebrew Day School, located in Sunnyvale, California, caters to a diverse student body hailing from a wide range of backgrounds. Eight-year-old Ruchama Poupko is one of those students; she is the daughter of Rabbi Ezy Poupko, the rabbi of the Bar Yohai Sephardic Minyan, and Mrs. Chani Poupko, the school’s third-grade limudei kodesh teacher.

Last week, Ruchama’s teacher went around the room asking each student to tell the class who her favorite superhero was. The answers varied but were generally predictable. Superman, Spiderman, and Batman scored at the top of the list, followed by some less famous, but apparently still super personalities. But when it came to Ruchama’s turn, she shared that her favorite superhero is a man who had an impact far more powerful than a locomotive, lack of red cape notwithstanding.

“Rav Chaim Kanievsky,” she said proudly, prompting the next girl to declare, with equal pride, “The Chofetz Chaim.”

Sunnyvale may be light years away from Bnei Brak or Radin, but two young girls there demonstrated that they’d absorbed the lesson that in the world of Torah, being a superhero is far from fantasy.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 928)