Rabbi Shimon Galai Greets Modiin Illit Pupils With Personal Blessing and Lesson in Kindness
Students from the Aholi Sefer Torah school in Modiin Illit traveled to Bnei Brak to receive a blessing from Rabbi Shimon Galai after beginning to study Gemara for the first time this school year. The fourth-grade boys went with principal Rabbi Yair Ginzburg and teachers Gedalia Appeldorfer, Yehuda Schper, Yaakov Friedlander, and Avraham Grossman, singing Torah songs on the way and entering the rabbi’s home with great reverence.
The visit opened with the song “Avinu HaAv HaRachaman,” after which Rabbi Galai tested the boys on the tractate “Eilu Metziot” and the Mishnayot they were learning. He praised their clear knowledge, blessed them to grow in Torah and pure fear of Heaven, and thanked the school’s leadership and staff for their educational and emotional dedication to each child.
A highlight came when Rabbi Galai danced with the students to Torah songs and deliberately shifted his hands from boys already holding him to those standing next in the circle, so every child could feel included. Teachers said the moment took place during a special school campaign called “VeAhavta,” aimed at teaching respect, compromise, and consideration for others, and it offered the boys a living lesson in sensitivity.
After the group blessing, the staff remained to seek guidance on educational matters. When one veteran teacher asked how the rabbi had the strength to comfort and listen to everyone patiently throughout the day, Galai replied that God owes him nothing, yet gave him life, strength, and the ability to stand and speak, so everything belongs to God and helping others is his moral and human duty.
