MERRICK, NY — More than 300 people braved near record-breaking heat to welcome the first Torah scroll to the Chabad Center for Jewish Life in the Long Island hamlet of Merrick, N.Y.
Long Island Community Braves Heat Wave to Welcome New Torah Scroll
MERRICK, NY — More than 300 people braved near record-breaking heat to welcome the first Torah scroll to the Chabad Center for Jewish Life in the Long Island hamlet of Merrick, N.Y.
The Sunday celebration began at the gazebo outside of the townís train station with a completion ceremony presided over by a ritual scribe. A procession of residents and local politicians carried the scroll, donated by the Gerwitz family in loving memory of Sharon Faye (Fayga Sarah) Gerwitz, the four blocks down the road to the Chabad House.
According to participants, the festivities were an inspiring way to lead into the holiday of Shavuot, which began Sunday night. The holiday marks the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people at Mt. Sinai.
Susan Litman, 60, said that she especially enjoyed a scribeís demonstration of how to make the parchment for a Torah scroll, and how to write the letters with a feather quill.
copy editor
The correct name is Gewirtz family.