What better way to prepare for Z’man Matan Torateinu than preparing a thoughtful, relevant dvar Torah to be shared with the community?
In honor of Shavuot, KSYM is excited to announce a Dvar Torah Contest for Buchman high school students (boys and girls grades 7-12).
This program is sponsored by The Bekritsky family in memory of Joel Alan Linsider אברהם יעקב בן שלמה חיים and anonymously for a full recovery of יהושע ישראל בן בלימה Program sponsored by הל בן ב
Requirements:
Choose and Research a topic in Torah that interests you . Delve into the topic by exploring primary texts, mefarshim and contemporary ideas
Connect the Dvar Torah to your life, current events, or Jewish life today
Write a 750-1,000 word piece , in Hebrew or English, which integrates traditional and contemporary texts, as well as your own thoughts and perspectives on the subject
A panel of judges will read all submissions, and winners will prepare and present their work to the KSYM community from the pulpit
Grand Prize : The winner of each age group will share his/her Dvar Torah with the community from the KSYM pulpit on Isru Chag Shavuot, and will receive a gift card. 7/8th graders- 300nis, 9/10 graders- 400nis, 11/12 graders- 500nis.
All participants will be invited to participate in a public speaking workshop. Winners will be expected to participate in the workshop and have a private “practice run” to improve their presentation.
All submitted Divrei Torah will be published and disseminated in a Torah Journal for community learning on Leil Shavuot.
Timeline:
May 7 - Applicants who wish to receive mentorship and support from Rabbi Steven Pruzansky or Dalia Portnoy (recommended!) must make a request by May 7. Email srpruz@aol.com or daliaportnoy613@gmail.com to request a time slot.
May 16, 9 pm - Last time to submit your dvar Torah in Word or on a shared google doc to lilmod@ksym.org.il
May 21- Winners Announced. That week there will be a public speaking workshop and “practice” .
May 27- Isru Chag Shavuot--Winners’ public presentation from the KSYM pulpit after Shabbat tefilla
Small Print:
Your Dvar Torah must be your own original work. While we encourage applicants to learn with and from Torah personalities, parents, teachers and mentors, and even CHAT GPT or other AI apps, all of the written work and ideas that you submit must be your own. In order for your work to be included in the contest, you must provide a list noting all sources that you used to develop your Dvar Torah.
A minimum of 3 submissions per age group are required in order for the contest to take place.
Criteria upon which the content of the written divrei Torah will be judged:
Informative: 35%
Ingenuity/creativity: 35%
Inspirational/contemplative: 30%