MTA Celebrates Siyum In Memory Of Ari Fuld (‘91) And Hachnasas Sefer Torah

On Monday, October 8, 2018, MTA hosted a Siyum in memory of Ari Fuld (‘91) and Hachnasas Sefer Torah.  This meaningful and uplifting event included divrei Torah from Yeshiva University President Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman (‘87) and Head of School Rabbi Joshua Kahn, and dancing the new Torah, the making of which was funded by an anonymous donor, down Amsterdam Avenue into the MTA Beis Medrash.

The program began with the entire yeshiva cumulatively finishing Seder Nezikin mishnayos, which culminated in a Siyum in Ari’s memory made by his cousins, Elie Goldberg (‘20), Binyamin Fuld (‘21), Shaya Goldberg (‘20), and Dovi Forman (‘20).  On September 16, Fuld was murdered near the Rami Levy supermarket in the Gush Etzion junction in Jerusalem. In a message sent to the Yeshiva University community that same day, Dr. Berman stated that “our hearts are torn by the murder of our alumnus Ari Fuld zk”l ’91YUHS in today’s terrorist attack. Ari’s heroic response to capture the terrorist before succumbing to his wounds was emblematic of the courageous approach he took to his life, defending the State of Israel and the Jewish people. Deeply committed to our Torah, people and land, Ari’s sense of mission permeated all that he did and inspired all those with whom he came in contact. His tragic loss shakes us to our very core.”

Some of that sadness occasioned by Ari’s death was lightened by the joyous energy in the room as members of both Fuld’s family and graduating class watched the MTA talmidim and rebbeim dance, sing, and celebrate. Rabbi Kahn noted how Ari’s life, like the Sefer Torah, embodied kedushah, which “can only be created through action, and just as we are commanded to write a Sefer Torah, we are commanded to write our own life story and view our existence with the kedushah of godliness.”

In his comments, Dr. Berman picked up on this theme of living a G-dly life by focusing on how Ari Fuld practiced charity in whatever ways he could, providing a profound example about how to bring Torah values to life.   He encouraged all those in attendance to consider what values they can draw from the Torah to share with the world, and – as the Sefer Torah is a physical manifestation of God’s speech – to imagine how we ourselves can manifest His values.  

After the completion of the Siyum, MTA Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Michael Taubes (‘76), gathered the Sefer Torah in his arms and, escorted by a phalanx of hundreds of dancing talmidim and rebbeim, as well as YU Roshei Yeshiva Rav Hershel Schachter, Rav Mordechai Willig, Rav Hershel Reichman, Rav Baruch Simon, Rabbi Eliyahu Ben-Chaim, and RIETS Dean Rabbi Menachem Penner, brought it to the safety of the MTA Beis Medrash.