Yesterday I got to witness something beautiful.
A new torah scroll was finished by a scribe, paraded into my synagogue, and placed into the ark to be used along with the older torah scrolls contained therein.
It was quite the party, with friends from the shul and from around the Nashville Jewish community coming together to celebrate. It's not every day that a new torah is purchased by a synagogue, after all. You can't just pick one up at the torah store. They take months to write and piece together. The parchments have to be sewn in such a way as to maintain the consistency of the lettering and smoothly enough that they do not add undue weight or tear. The wooden handles light enough to be able to lift the torah without dropping it.
The process is one not taken lightly. It is sacred work, ancient work. Women in the shtetls used to sew the parchments together in the old days. The days when my great grandparents were born in the Pale of Jewish Settlement. The days when protecting the torah meant, at times, protecting it with your life.
At the dedication, our rabbi read a letter from 70 years ago, when the last torah was given to the shul. The letter spoke of sending two torahs to community synagogues in Europe to help rebuild Jewish life there after the Holocaust. It reminded me how much has been sacrificed so that I may have the privilege of practicing my religion, how lucky I am to have relatives who left Eastern Europe at the turn of the 20th Century. How lucky I am to live in a city so full of joy, friends and family.
Reconnecting with friends was a highlight, as was following a flatbed trailer with a klezmer band, and dancing the hora on West End Avenue as Sunday afternoon traffic drove by slowly, wondering what those crazy Jews are up to now. With the sun beating down on us, sweat dripping down our backs, we danced with abandon, young and old(er) alike, smiling and laughing and feeling part of a grand tradition.
I look forward to hearing the Hebrew words read from the new torah and enjoying the company of the congregation, friends and visitors as we reflect on the love put into creating our sacred scroll.
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