Sara's Siyum Sefer Bereishit

Soon after purim we were invited to Sara's gan for their siyum sefer Bereishit. This was my first Gan event so I was unaware of the calibre of the show to be. Darrell was unable to attend as he was working but I promised all to video the extravaganza and we would watch at home together when Abba came home. We were greeted in the gan by a group of 30 happy, excited kids dressed up as Jews in the time of Avraham Avinu. The show began and the kids went from song to song, welcoming us and then going through the story of Sefer Bereishit. Sara and her buddy Rivka were also excited and we wondered how much they would be able to participate or would they shy out. To our great surprise, the two of them were stars singing away in hebrew and acting out the stories just like everyone else!!! As happy as I was to see Sara singing away and participating, it was seeing Rivka smiling and singing away unabashadly in hebrew that really did me in. I knew that Sara was able to speak hebrew and had begun to do so in school on a regular basis. Rivka was having a harder time and while I know she understands she has not been ready to say much in hebrew. So when she stood beside Sara and sang away in hebrew I felt a huge lump in my throat and was flooded with emotion. To see these two little girls who were plucked from their nice comfortable , english environment and pluncked down into a place where for a long time they did not understand anything going on around them and to see them part of a greater group, participating and being happy.............it was beyond. The content of the show was also very touching to us as olim. When the little Avraham avinus stood around a map on the floor and sang a song about how hashem promised them this land, I looked out the huge gan windows and thought yes it was exactly here where this happened, they were acting out a story which is right out their window. When they sang "ata etein et ha'aretz hazot"...........again, just look outside your window. Schools and teachers work very hard to help kids internalize the torah and its beautiful stories, yet here I don't think it is as hard a job, just look outside your window!!! It was a beautiful show and both the Frankls and I were overcome with joy and pride in our little girls! Wow, they have come so far and overcome so much and here they are singing about their torah and their inheritance of eretz yisrael and they are looking out the window!!