Lee Kaylie held a Hachnasat Sefer Torah ceremony instead of a traditional bar mitzvah party to celebrate his becoming a bar mitzvah. Over 400 people attended the event to witness Lee and others write letters in the Torah scroll. The ceremony was an opportunity for the community to come together and celebrate Judaism after difficult times in Israel. After the Torah was completed, attendees danced in the streets while escorting the new Torah scroll to the synagogue. Lee's family emphasized sharing their joy of Judaism with others rather than focusing on personal celebration.

1. By ELISHEVA RINA AUFRICHTIG
A
s Lee (Leeron) Kaylie
carefully gripped the
silky yet stiff white feath-
er quill with the tips of his fingers,
he watched as the sofer (scribe)
formed the Hebrew letter with
fluid black ink. Lee’s mother,
Roberta Kaylie, held onto his arm
as she also took part in the mitz-
vah. The Torah was almost com-
plete. About 50 letters had yet to
be inscribed onto the parchment
— each letter was an opportunity
for someone to fulfill mitzvah
number 613: writing a Torah
scroll (Deuteronomy 31:19).
Writing one letter is like writing
the whole Torah, for a single miss-
ing letter invalidates the entire
Torah.
Gloria and Harvey Kaylie,
Lee’s grandparents, also wrote a
letter together. Then Lee and
Harvey wrote a letter together,
because this event was not only a
celebration of the completion of
the writing of this Torah; it was
also a celebration of Lee’s bar
mitzvah as well as Harvey’s birth-
day. By utilizing their personal
joy as an opportunity to dedicate a
new Torah, a “traveling Torah” to
be used by many different Chabad
Centers until they get their own
and can pass it on, Harvey Kaylie
and his family demonstrated how
much they value Torah and shar-
ing it with others.
Lee is the second son in his
family, after his brother Hudson
(Hillel Yehuda), to follow the
family tradition of having a
Hachnasat Sefer Torah instead of
a private bar mitzvah party. Lee
declined to make the commemo-
ration of his new obligation to
keep the mitzvot in the Torah an
exclusive affair, in order to give
more than 400 people from more
than three separate communities
the chance to also celebrate being
Jews who have the Torah and its
obligations.
Earlier this year, June 1-5,
over Shavuot (the holiday of
rejoicing because we received
the Torah), the Kaylie family had
been in Israel on the Bislach
army base, celebrating their
rededication of a Torah. Every
army base in Israel has its own
Torah scroll, and if it ever needs
repair, a program called Safra
Veseifa connects families who
want to sponsor a rededication of
a scroll with an army base that
needs it. “It was one of the
largest bases in the South,”
Roberta recalled, “And hundreds
of soldiers came. We shared our
son’s simcha [joyous occasion]
with the Israeli soldiers.”
It was a busy week. After leav-
ing the army base, Lee put on
tefillin at the Kotel and was called
up to read the Torah at the Hesder
yeshiva in Ramat Hasharon. The
Kaylie family also attended the
dedication of two ambucycles to
United Hatzalah, which were
donated by Harvey and Gloria.
Immediately afterward, the fami-
ly flew back to New York and Lee
read the Torah on Shabbat in The
Hampton Synagogue.
Then, on Oct. 5, a few days
before Sukkot, the time of rejoic-
ing in God’s presence and protec-
tion, the Kaylie family invited
hundreds of friends, family mem-
bers, Great Neck and Hampton
Synagogue members, and mem-
bers of the communities of Long
Beach, Lido Beach and Atlantic
Beach to complete the writing of
a Sefer Torah.
Like a Torah needs every letter
to be complete, the Jewish nation
needs every Jew to be truly com-
plete. A diverse range of Jews
were present that day at the
Allegria Hotel — some had never
attended a Hachnasat Torah
before, and a few were not sure
what exactly it was. Just as
Hudson Kaylie’s bar mitzvah
Hachnasat Sefer Torah brought a
sense of unity to the communities
after Hurricane Sandy, this cele-
bration brought a sense of con-
nection and support after the
tragedies in Israel.
Lee’s eighth grade class of
North Shore Hebrew Academy all
attended and had the opportunity
to write a letter. Rabbi Eli
Goodman of the BACH Jewish
Center, organizer of the
Hachnasat Sefer Torah, said that
the children received preference,
because the Torah is meant to be
taught to the next generation.
“Roberta Kaylie and her two
sons, Hudson and Lee, have been
an important part of the BACH
for many years, whether it was
Hudson’s playing on the BACH
Bombers baseball team, Lee shar-
ing his birthday celebration on
Shavuot with me every year or
their attendance at our many holi-
day programs throughout the
year,” Rabbi Goodman comment-
ed. “It has been a pleasure seeing
them grow up and both celebrate
their bar mitzvahs with the BACH
here on the South Shore.
“The Kaylie family have
always used their personal cele-
brations as an opportunity to fur-
ther Jewish causes, as can be seen
with the Torah dedication, where-
by the entire community was
The Write Approach
Kaylie bar mitzvah and Hachnasat Sefer Torah
continued on previous page
(Above): Celebrating the Torah (seated, l-r): Gloria and Harvey Kaylie and the sofer who inscribed the Torah’s letters on the parchment; (standing, l-r): Gloria and Harvey’s daughter Alicia Yacoby, and Hudson,
Roberta and Lee Kaylie.
(Above, right): Harvey Kaylie with his grandsons Lee and Hudson.
The crowd escorts the new Torah toward the BACH Jewish Center. (Center): The bar mitzvah boy and his grandfather hold the quill as the sofer writes a letter in the Torah.
JEWISH WORLD • DECEMBER 19, 2014 19

2. invited to participate in the writ-
ing of a new Torah scroll,” he
added.
The cantor of The Hampton
Synagogue, Netanel Hershtik,
sang as individuals wrote in the
last letters with the sofer. When the
Torah was complete, the celebra-
tion spilled out onto the streets, as
the hundreds of people sang and
danced down Edwards Boulevard
toward the BACH Jewish Center,
where the Torah is staying tem-
porarily. Lee, Harvey, and every-
one else escorted the Torah down
the boardwalk as if it was the one
having the bar mitzvah or birthday.
Or perhaps the scene was like a
wedding, with a chuppah and live
musicians on a rolling truck, and
then hakafot (circle dancing) as the
other scrolls in the BACH were
brought out to “greet” the new
Torah. Children waved flags and
chewed candy enthusiastically.
Overall, said Roberta, it was
different than a regular bar mitz-
vah party. “At a regular bar mitz-
vah, you have a party — this was-
n’t a party — it was pure” and
free from a focus on personal van-
ity, and very uplifting and spiritu-
al. Sharing her simcha with so
many people, whom they would
not have otherwise invited, made
it infinitely more beautiful to
Roberta, she said.
Among those who attended were
many rabbis from all over New
York and out of state, including
Rabbi Avraham Bronstein, Rabbi
Dale Polakoff and Rabbi Ian
Lichter of Great Neck Synagogue;
Rabbi Steven Burg of the Simon
Wiesenthal Center; Rabbi Tuvia
Fried, Rabbi Gary Menchel, Rabbi
Ahron Rosenthal and Rabbi Yisrael
Silverman of Yeshiva Har Torah;
Rabbi Benny Zippel of Chabad of
Utah; and Rabbi Marc Schneier of
The Hampton Synagogue.
David Mandel, CEO of OHEL
Children’s Home and Family
Services, which includes the very
successful Camp Kaylie, also
attended. Camp Kaylie is a sum-
mer camp, with all the expected
camp activities, that integrates
children with and without devel-
opmental disabilities for an
enjoyable and memorable experi-
ence. It was started by Harvey
and Gloria Kaylie.
When the Kaylie family gives to
others and shares the joy of
Judaism, they decline to make a
fuss. “We received more through
our giving,” say Harvey, Gloria,
Roberta, Lee and the rest of the
family.
Approach
continued from next page
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Lee, Harvey, and everyone else escorted
the Torah down the boardwalk as if it
was the one having the bar mitzvah or
birthday. Or perhaps the scene was like
a wedding, with a chuppah and live
musicians on a rolling truck.
18 JEWISH WORLD • Wedding Section • December 19, 2014