By ELISHEVA RINA AUFRICHTIG

As Lee (Leeron) Kayliecarefully gripped thesilky yet stiff white feath-

er quill with the tips of his fingers,he watched as the sofer (scribe)formed the Hebrew letter withfluid black ink. Lee’s mother,Roberta Kaylie, held onto his armas she also took part in the mitz-vah. The Torah was almost com-plete. About 50 letters had yet tobe inscribed onto the parchment— each letter was an opportunityfor someone to fulfill mitzvahnumber 613: writing a Torahscroll (Deuteronomy 31:19).Writing one letter is like writingthe whole Torah, for a single miss-ing letter invalidates the entireTorah.

Gloria and Harvey Kaylie,Lee’s grandparents, also wrote aletter together. Then Lee andHarvey wrote a letter together,because this event was not only acelebration of the completion ofthe writing of this Torah; it wasalso a celebration of Lee’s bar

mitzvah as well as Harvey’s birth-day. By utilizing their personaljoy as an opportunity to dedicate anew Torah, a “traveling Torah” tobe used by many different ChabadCenters until they get their ownand can pass it on, Harvey Kaylieand his family demonstrated howmuch they value Torah and shar-ing it with others.

Lee is the second son in hisfamily, after his brother Hudson(Hillel Yehuda), to follow thefamily tradition of having aHachnasat Sefer Torah instead ofa private bar mitzvah party. Leedeclined to make the commemo-ration of his new obligation tokeep the mitzvot in the Torah anexclusive affair, in order to givemore than 400 people from morethan three separate communitiesthe chance to also celebrate beingJews who have the Torah and itsobligations.

Earlier this year, June 1-5,over Shavuot (the holiday ofrejoicing because we receivedthe Torah), the Kaylie family had

been in Israel on the Bislacharmy base, celebrating theirrededication of a Torah. Everyarmy base in Israel has its ownTorah scroll, and if it ever needsrepair, a program called SafraVeseifa connects families whowant to sponsor a rededication ofa scroll with an army base thatneeds it. “It was one of thelargest bases in the South,”Roberta recalled, “And hundredsof soldiers came. We shared ourson’s simcha [joyous occasion]with the Israeli soldiers.”

It was a busy week. After leav-ing the army base, Lee put ontefillin at the Kotel and was calledup to read the Torah at the Hesderyeshiva in Ramat Hasharon. TheKaylie family also attended thededication of two ambucycles toUnited Hatzalah, which weredonated by Harvey and Gloria.Immediately afterward, the fami-ly flew back to New York and Leeread the Torah on Shabbat in TheHampton 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 invitedhundreds of friends, family mem-bers, Great Neck and HamptonSynagogue members, and mem-bers of the communities of LongBeach, Lido Beach and AtlanticBeach to complete the writing ofa Sefer Torah.

Like a Torah needs every letterto be complete, the Jewish nationneeds every Jew to be truly com-plete. A diverse range of Jewswere present that day at theAllegria Hotel — some had neverattended a Hachnasat Torahbefore, and a few were not surewhat exactly it was. Just asHudson Kaylie’s bar mitzvahHachnasat Sefer Torah brought asense of unity to the communitiesafter Hurricane Sandy, this cele-bration brought a sense of con-nection and support after thetragedies in Israel.

Lee’s eighth grade class ofNorth Shore Hebrew Academy allattended and had the opportunity

to write a letter. Rabbi EliGoodman of the BACH JewishCenter, organizer of theHachnasat Sefer Torah, said thatthe children received preference,because the Torah is meant to betaught to the next generation.

“Roberta Kaylie and her twosons, Hudson and Lee, have beenan important part of the BACHfor many years, whether it wasHudson’s playing on the BACHBombers baseball team, Lee shar-ing his birthday celebration onShavuot with me every year ortheir attendance at our many holi-day programs throughout theyear,” Rabbi Goodman comment-ed. “It has been a pleasure seeingthem grow up and both celebratetheir bar mitzvahs with the BACHhere on the South Shore.

“The Kaylie family havealways used their personal cele-brations as an opportunity to fur-ther Jewish causes, as can be seenwith the Torah dedication, where-by the entire community was

The Write ApproachKaylie 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

invited to participate in the writ-ing of a new Torah scroll,” headded.

The cantor of The HamptonSynagogue, Netanel Hershtik,

sang as individuals wrote in thelast letters with the sofer. When theTorah was complete, the celebra-tion spilled out onto the streets, asthe hundreds of people sang anddanced down Edwards Boulevardtoward the BACH Jewish Center,where the Torah is staying tem-porarily. Lee, Harvey, and every-one else escorted the Torah downthe boardwalk as if it was the onehaving the bar mitzvah or birthday.Or perhaps the scene was like awedding, with a chuppah and livemusicians on a rolling truck, andthen hakafot (circle dancing) as theother scrolls in the BACH werebrought out to “greet” the newTorah. Children waved flags andchewed candy enthusiastically.

Overall, said Roberta, it wasdifferent 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” andfree from a focus on personal van-ity, and very uplifting and spiritu-al. Sharing her simcha with somany people, whom they wouldnot have otherwise invited, madeit infinitely more beautiful to

Roberta, she said.Among those who attended were

many rabbis from all over NewYork and out of state, includingRabbi Avraham Bronstein, RabbiDale Polakoff and Rabbi Ian

Lichter of Great Neck Synagogue;Rabbi Steven Burg of the SimonWiesenthal Center; Rabbi TuviaFried, Rabbi Gary Menchel, RabbiAhron Rosenthal and Rabbi YisraelSilverman of Yeshiva Har Torah;Rabbi Benny Zippel of Chabad ofUtah; and Rabbi Marc Schneier ofThe Hampton Synagogue.

David Mandel, CEO of OHELChildren’s Home and Family

Services, which includes the verysuccessful Camp Kaylie, alsoattended. Camp Kaylie is a sum-mer camp, with all the expectedcamp activities, that integrateschildren with and without devel-

opmental disabilities for anenjoyable and memorable experi-ence. It was started by Harveyand Gloria Kaylie.

When the Kaylie family gives toothers and shares the joy ofJudaism, they decline to make afuss. “We received more throughour giving,” say Harvey, Gloria,Roberta, Lee and the rest of thefamily.

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Lee, Harvey, and everyone else escortedthe Torah down the boardwalk as if itwas the one having the bar mitzvah orbirthday. Or perhaps the scene was like

a wedding, with a chuppah and livemusicians on a rolling truck.

18 JEWISH WORLD • Wedding Section • December 19, 2014