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Overcast and Breezy The Yad Squad makes a point
Hewlett-East Rockaway Jewish Centre students learn to make Torah pointers
Once again the “Yad Squad” helped students of Hewlett-East Rockaway Jewish Centre’s religious school to make their yads, or Torah pointers, during the annual Yad program on Nov. 7.
These yads are made of wax and dental instruments and the 32 students designed and carved their own pointers. The completed wax yads are cast in sterling silver and will be displayed near the main Sanctuary for several weeks.
The Yad program was begun eight years ago by David Woolfe, the Jewish Centre’s religious school director, as he approached congregant Dr. Neil Meixler, a retired dentist and Judaic artist.
Woolfe asked Dr. Meixler if he had ever made a yad. That the dentist made one for his grandson, which was one more than anyone else in the congregation, made he the reigning expert.
Dr. Meixler recruited the assistance of Dr. Joseph Brofsky, a pediatric dentist in Woodmere, and along with several other friends the Yad Squad was established. The program is considered the only one of its kind in the area and a major religious school program.
