Chabad at Wiregrass dedicates new Torah
By Cameron Valdez
The Laker/Lutz News Correspondent
The local Jewish community gathered on June 10 at the Chabad at Wiregrass to celebrate the completion of a new Torah.
The Torah, to the Jewish community, is more than a Bible. It is what teaches its followers everything they will need to know about life.
“(The Torah) is everything to the Jewish community,” said Jewish community member Herzl Zoock. “It’s a code of life. It’s the way you live. It teaches us right from wrong. It teaches us everything there is to know about life.”
The new Torah costs roughly $40,000 and takes a little more than a year to complete.
“It takes a scribe about a year to write because it is handwritten with a feather on actual parchment which is cowhide, skin from a kosher animal,” said Rabbi Yochanon Klein, who wrote the last few letters of the new Torah.
The completion of the holy book is extremely vigorous. The Torah is handwritten by a professional scribe in Israel. In order for the Torah to be usable, the scribe must follow more than 400 laws, such as the type of ink and thread used. If any of the laws are broken during its creation, the book cannot be used.
“What goes into writing is tremendous,” said Rabbi Mendy Yarmush.
After the Torah was completed, the community celebrated.
“When we complete a Torah, it is similar to a wedding,” Yarmush said. “A wedding is a time for people to unite and make a lifelong commitment to each other. The Torah is the same thing. When we finish the Torah, we are renewing our vows to the Torah and saying that this Torah is valuable and important to us. Therefore, we celebrate it similar to the way we celebrate a wedding.”
The Chabad at Wiregrass is located at 2124 Ashley Oaks Circle in Wesley Chapel. For more information, call (813) 642-3244 or visit .
