There was much more than just menorot burning brightly in Boca Raton on the eighth night of Chanukah. Hundreds of souls were aflame at a special musical event to benefit Torah Academy of Boca Raton. The event featured international singing sensation Rabbi Baruch Levine as well as Torah Academy’s own boys’ choir.
The boys’ choir led off the evening with a lively medley of Chanukah songs and concluded with a new song never heard on stage before, “Miracles,” composed by Avrohom Friedler. The choir, led by Torah Academy’s eighth grade rebbe, Rabbi Netanel Chait, performed masterfully, with special vocal arrangements and an assortment of solos and duets.
Rabbi Baruch Levine dazzled the near-capacity theater with his smash hits “Uforatzta,” “Toda,” and many, many more. He also touched the hearts of all those in the room with many moving compositions including his stirring ballads “Piano Boy” and “Lecha Dodi.” The orchestra, led by producer/arranger extraordinaire Yochi Briskman, had the crowd dancing in the aisles and swaying in their seats.
The emotional highlight of the evening was when Rabbi Baruch Levine called all the young children of Torah Academy to join him on the stage for his classic “Vizakaini.” One parent remarked, “It was touching to see our community’s youth sitting together for this heartfelt prayer that our precious children should light up the world with their Torah and good deeds. May we merit to see these beautiful words come true.”