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Montana Welcomes Torah in Memory of Chanchy Bruk

Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Nearly 100 members of Chabad Lubavitch of Montana gathered Sunday afternoon for a celebration that, according to Rabbi Chaim Bruk, is only seen every few decades in Montana and marks the significant growth of the Jewish congregation in Bozeman.

The members came to witness and take part in dedicating two new Torahs to The Shul of Bozeman in memory of two important women, including Chanchy Bruk of Brooklyn, N.Y., the mother of Rabbi Bruk.

While publishers can knock out millions of books with dozens of new titles a week, crafting a single Torah scroll takes more than a year to complete. What’s the holdup? Traditions hold that for a certified Torah, everything from the character of the scribe to the quality of the parchment and type of ink be taken into account. Additionally, each must be scripted to perfection. The slightest error voids the entire parchment.

Prior to Sunday’s dedication, the young congregation – started in 2007 – had been using a borrowed Torah from Queens, N.Y. Rabbi Bruk said that as his congregation grew from a handful to the current group of 200 families throughout the Gallatin Valley, it was time to add Torahs of their own.

Bruk said that followers of the Jewish faith believe that dedicating Torahs to the deceased “adds vibrancy and vigor to their souls, as well as provides comfort to the community.”

The addition of the sacred texts is also a testament to the stability and continued growth of a congregation that, as acquaintances back in New York told Bruk before he relocated to Bozeman, was never going to amount to much.

“Adding these Torahs has taken us to a new level,” said the proud Bruk before the celebration began. “We’ve grown on a level beyond my wildest expectations. We knew we would grow, but not that quickly.”

Later, the group that included friends and family from 12 states and even Israel and Canada marched up a hill to witness the completed Torahs being carried towards them beneath a traditional chuppa, an ornate canopy. Then the proud congregation danced alongside the new texts. No celebration is complete without a feast, so to finish the dedication ceremony the congregation was treated to a kosher sushi dinner, brought in from Dave’s Sushi.

“These are the ways we celebrate the newest development of Jewish life in our Montana community,” said Bruk. “We’ve truly become an established community center.”

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