By Jason Bedrick and Simon Bollen/ Special To The Townsman Thursday, February 16, 2006 - Updated: 01:37 PM EST The U.S. Postal Service has a building in New York City, inscribed with the motto "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." Well, on Sunday Feb. 12, a massive blizzard kept just about everyone indoors. Many local events were canceled, and hundreds of flights were canceled in Boston, leaving thousands of stranded travelers. But, in Wellesley, more than 100 friends and community members gathered in the midst of the storm for a historical event - the completion of a Torah scroll. Written by hand, using a quill and special ink on dozens of sheets of hand-prepared animal parchment, all sewn together to form a long scroll, Jews believe that a Torah is a living embodiment of the Divine Will. Specially trained scribes, known as "Sofers," spend up to six months writing each Torah. There are 304,805 letters in a Sefer Torah. If one letter is extra or missing, it renders the Torah invalid for use until the blemish is repaired. Originally planned to be held at the Wellesley Free Library, the heavy snowfall meant that the library was forced to close for the day. This, in turn, meant that Wellesley-Weston Chabad Center’s Rabbi Moshe Bleich had to resort to Plan B: hosting the event in his own home. "It was an absolute miracle," said Rabbi Bleich, "A dozen people stepped up to the plate to make this event happen," including several local students and community members. Worcester Kosher Catering Company G & T Caterers were concerned about their ability to reach Wellesley on Sunday, so they brought the food a little early ... at 3 a.m.! Since more than 200 people had made reservations to be at the event, a handful of people had to field phone calls all morning. Others used a snow blower and shovels to clear the driveway and front lawn, which became a makeshift parking lot. Several others cleaned the house, set up tables and chairs, prepared the food and made other last-minute preparations. In the end, more than 100 people braved the weather and icy roads to attend the ceremony, including many local families, students from Wellesley College, and Babson College, including 12 brothers of Babson’s chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi. It is a mitzvah (commandment) that every Jew should write his or her own Torah scroll, but since that is extremely difficult, Jews are allowed to purchase a letter in the Torah and thereby fulfill their obligation. Everyone at the dedication ceremony had the opportunity to purchase a letter, word, or verse in the Torah and to hold the quill as the scribe wrote the letter into the Torah. The Torah scroll was donated by Sandra Brand, a Holocaust survivor and author who passed away this year. This program was funded in part by the Ufaratzta Endowment for Chabad on Campus Though Matisyahu, the famous Chassidic reggae superstar, had to cancel his appearance, attendees had the pleasure of dancing to Piamenta, whom Rolling Stone just called "the Jewish Hendrix." Anyone who is interested in buying a letter in the Torah should contact Rabbi Bleich at 781-239-1076 or e-mail chabadwellesley@aol.com. Wellesley-Weston Chabad’s next major event will be its annual Purim bash on the evening of Monday, March 13, at the Wellesley Community Center. This year’s theme is "In the Shtetl."
No comments:
Post a Comment