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WITS alumni honor school with new Torah scroll

May 3rd, 2010

In celebration of its 30th anniversary, Wisconsin Institute for Torah Study will dedicate a new Torah scroll on Sunday, May 23.

The scroll is being donated by alumni Shua Ray and Nachy Shabat, of the classes of 1992 and 1991, respectively. In addition to fulfilling the commandment to write a Torah scroll, the gift is “the ultimate representation” of their feelings of gratitude toward the school’s rabbis, they wrote in a fundraising letter.

Beginning at 11:15 a.m., WITS alumni, students, staff and community members will gather at 3238 N. Marietta Ave., where the last five letters of the Torah will be written. Accompanied by music and dancing, they will then escort the new scroll down Lake Drive and into the school.

That afternoon, WITS will hold a banquet celebrating the Torah dedication and the school’s anniversary at Hilton Milwaukee City Center, 509 W. Wisconsin Ave., in Milwaukee. The reception will begin at 2:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 3 p.m.

WITS opened in 1980 with 11 students. Classes were held in rented classrooms at Henry Clay School in Whitefish Bay. Now in its own building at 3288 N. Lake Dr., in Milwaukee, the school now has 130 students — 80 in the high school program and 50 in the post-high school program.

For information about the Torah scroll or the event, contact alumni director Rabbi Jay Hellman, 414-963-9317, or witsemail@aol.com.In celebration of its 30th anniversary, Wisconsin Institute for Torah Study will dedicate a new Torah scroll on Sunday, May 23.

The scroll is being donated by alumni Shua Ray and Nachy Shabat, of the classes of 1992 and 1991, respectively. In addition to fulfilling the commandment to write a Torah scroll, the gift is “the ultimate representation” of their feelings of gratitude toward the school’s rabbis, they wrote in a fundraising letter.

Beginning at 11:15 a.m., WITS alumni, students, staff and community members will gather at 3238 N. Marietta Ave., where the last five letters of the Torah will be written. Accompanied by music and dancing, they will then escort the new scroll down Lake Drive and into the school.

That afternoon, WITS will hold a banquet celebrating the Torah dedication and the school’s anniversary at Hilton Milwaukee City Center, 509 W. Wisconsin Ave., in Milwaukee. The reception will begin at 2:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 3 p.m.

WITS opened in 1980 with 11 students. Classes were held in rented classrooms at Henry Clay School in Whitefish Bay. Now in its own building at 3288 N. Lake Dr., in Milwaukee, the school now has 130 students — 80 in the high school program and 50 in the post-high school program.

For information about the Torah scroll or the event, contact alumni director Rabbi Jay Hellman, 414-963-9317, or witsemail@aol.com.