SUZANNE BELLING
“When our community was shrinking, with diminishing resources, the Rebbe told us to build schools,” said Rabbi Mendel Lipskar, head of the Lubavitch Foundation of Southern Africa and a founding member of the Torah Academy Schools education committee.
He was speaking at a reception held before the end of term to honour the major donors who enabled the refurbishment and additions to the Torah Academy Nursery School building.
“The country has Divine resources and, materially and spiritually, we are building people and education.” The Torah Academy High Schools had recently been voted the top independent school in Gauteng,” Rabbi Lipskar said.
“We teach our children that the Torah will be there forever,” said Rabbi Shabsy Chaiton, administrator of Torah Academy. The education and learning of the children was a foundation of strength.
Rabbi Levi Lipskar, who heads up growth and development at the school, paid tribute to the pillars of the community – the donors who had made the Nursery School project possible.
The Rebbe, whose yahrzeit was last Tuesday (Gimmel Tammuz), used to stand for hours distributing dollars to thousands of people on Sundays and other occasions.
His intention was that the recipient should give the dollar to tzedakah. Usually, instead of giving the actual dollar bill to charity, the recipient would keep it and give away another dollar in its place.
Framed dollars from the Rebbe were presented to the top contributors to the Nursery School campaign, who attended the reception.
Sara Bronstein, principal of the Nursery School, told the donors: “I salute you for dreaming with us, believing in us and seeing this project through into something tangible… Our vision has always been guided by the teachings of the Rebbe.”
