Herald-Tribune
The local Jewish community was on hand to celebrate the signing of a completed Torah Saturday at the Chabad Jewish Center in Venice, FL.

Handwritten Torah a Labor of Faith

As he meticulously wrote on the parchment with a quill pen, Rabbi Yochanan Klein knew he could not make the slightest error. Every stroke, every line, every spelling to be precisely correct.

“If one letter is missing, it’s not kosher,” Klein said. “If there is an extra word, it’s not kosher.”

On Sunday, Klein, a fourth generation scribe from Miami, filled a special role for the Chabad of Venice & North Port, FL.

He completed a handwritten Torah in Hebrew that a certified scribe in Israel started about a year ago, the first Sefer Torah to be acquired by the roughly 10-year-old Chabad Jewish Center in Venice.

The Torah consists of the Five Books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy). When those scriptures are transcribed onto a traditional scroll, as they have been for generations, the written word cannot be accepted if it includes any mistakes.

The completeness and perfection of a Sefer Torah represents the accounting for all of the Jewish people.

“It symbolizes that everyone is important to us,” Klein said.

The scribe also made certain he followed a special process. No store-bought pen and paper can be used. Klein wrote upon a scroll that consisted of about 60 sections of sewed-together parchment made from cow hide. He used a goose feather pen and a special kosher ink made from organic ingredients such as nuts and gum arabic.

So, the completion of the Torah became a cause for celebration for Rabbi Sholom Schmerling and his congregation.

The event included songs, dancing and a processional — with the same high spirits as a Jewish wedding.

“Jewish tradition says that a new Torah is to be welcomed into a community just as one welcomes a bride and groom,” Schmerling explained prior to the ceremony.

One Comment

  • Kayla M

    Yasher koach! So nice to see you!!
    Regards to the girls =) Miss you!
    From your midwest cousins