After mastering reading in first grade, the Israeli child is ready to read the Torah in its own language. The second graders go through an exciting process that prepares them to receive the Torah. The peak of this process is a big ceremony in which they receive the book of Genesis.

My daughter Daphna just received the book and for that reason, I conducted an interview with her so you may get the child’s angle of beginning studying the bible.

How did you prepare yourself to receive the Torah?

At school we learned that the Torah (תּוֹרָה), the Mezuzah, and the tefillin (תְּפִלִּין, phylactery) are written with a quill pen (קֻלְמוּס, culmus) like in the old days. We also saw a real Torah scroll. It was much smaller than the one we later saw at the synagogue but I was very excited to touch it.

We also went for a visit at the local synagogue. It was just before Rosh Hashana, so the Rabi Blew the Shofar for us. We saw three Torah scrolls with beautiful ornaments. On the way back to school we got wet from the first rain of the season (הַיּוֹרֶה, hayore).

The rain gives us and the land life just like the Torah fills us with wisdom and life.

What was in the Torah-receiving ceremony?

The girls in my class danced to the music of the Shabat song: ” שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם מַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת ” (Shalom aleykhem mal’akhey hasharet, Welcome ministering angels). I was very excited to dance to this music. The boys danced to the music of ” אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם ” (‘Adon ‘Olam, Lord of the Universe). (A mother’s note – I had tears in my eyes watching the little angels dancing heavenly on the stage). The other classes sang songs related to Torah stories and conducted a play about the revelation of Sinai and why G-d decided to give the Torah to the children of Israel.

How did you feel when your teacher gave you the Torah?

After the show, we went to our class and our teacher gave each child a beautifully wrapped Torah and a little bag full of raisins and almonds. I was very excited because I felt that finally I have something that is very important. We learned a proverb that says:

” טוֹבָה תּוֹרָה מִכָּל סְחוֹרָה  ”

“The Torah is better than all merchandise.”

It means that the Torah is more important than everything that we may buy, because it is a book given to us by G-d and it is very ancient.

What is the significance of the raisins and almonds?

Our teacher added a note reciting a proverb by חז”ל = חֲכָמֵינוּ זִכְרָם לַבְּרָכָה (xaza”l, our Sages of Blessed Memory):

” כְּשֵׁם שֶׁהַצִּמּוּקִים מְתוּקִים, כָּךְ מְתוּקָה הַתּוֹרָה עַל שׁוֹמְעֶיהָ ”

“As the raisins are sweet, so is the Torah sweet to all its listeners.”

What have you study up to now?

We learned about the creation of the world. We learned that first it was chaos (תֹּהוּ וּבֹהו, tohu vavohu) – there was not light and no darkness, no morning and no night, no plants and no land, and G-d organized it all and created the animals and the human beings. We are very lucky that G-d made it this way, because if we were created before the land we would have drowned in the sea.