Media buzz about the writing of a new Torah scroll in the ancient synagogue atop the Judean Desert fortress of Masada brought a bevy of new visitors, including a squadron of Israeli Air Force pilots, to see the work in progress.
Israeli Pilots Contribute to Ancient Synagogue’s Torah
Media buzz about the writing of a new Torah scroll in the ancient synagogue atop the Judean Desert fortress of Masada brought a bevy of new visitors, including a squadron of Israeli Air Force pilots, to see the work in progress.
Rabbi Shimon Elharar, the director of Chabad-Lubavitch of the Dead Sea who helped commission the new scroll during Chanukah, received a call last Tuesday from a sergeant-major in the IAF Night Raptors squadron based in central Israel.
“Is it true?” asked the non-commissioned officer, known as A. in press reports in keeping with regulations protecting the identities of Israeli pilots.
“Is the Chabad House writing a Torah scroll on Masada?”
Since the founding of the state in 1948, the ancient fortress overlooking the Dead Sea has occupied a revered status in the public consciousness as the place where many soldiers are formally inducted into the military.
Elharar confirmed the report of the Torah scroll, which is being written by a ritual scribe in a climate-controlled space behind a pane of glass.
The sergeant-major’s next question was a little more difficult: “Can you help me organize a sunrise service at Masada tomorrow?”
only chabad
beautiful