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New Torah Completed for Chabad of Sumy Ukraine!

SUMY, Ukraine [CHI] — Just before Shavuos the Jewish community in Sumy Ukraine celebrated the arival of their newly restored Sefer Torah. The restoration of the Sefer Torah was carried out by the National Sofer Center in Dnepropetrovsk and was made possible by a donation from the Rier family, who are actively involved in the revitalization of Jewish life in Dnepropetrovsk.

Members of the community joined the sponsors and sofer in completing the restoration of the last few letters in the Torah in the Or Avner preschool building. Then for the first time in over 100 years Jews of all ages gathered on the main street in the center of the city where they proudly danced and sang as the Ukrainian army band led the procession with the Torah to the Jewish community center.

In the Shul the crowd was treated to a beautiful buffet and L’chayim prepared by the local Shluchim Rabbi Yechiel Shlomo and Rochi Levitansky. The traditional Ata Horaisa was recited as well as Pesukim by the children and then everyone joined in the Hakofos with the Torah accompanied by live music by Hatomim Shmuel Isaac Raices. After the Hakofos the Sefer Torah was placed in the newly built Aron Kodesh which was donated by the Mansouri Family from Tarzana California in memory of Rabbi Avrohom Levitansky OBM whose third Yortzeit is just after Shavuos on 10 Sivan.

During the ceremony the mayor of the city addressed the crowd and explained that even as a non Jew he is honored to participate and help the Jews living in Sumy – by closing the streets for this event and allowing the Menorah on Chanuka to be placed in the center of the city – so that they are able to proudly practice their religion.

A special thanks to all of the guests who arrived In honor of this special occasion including the sofer Rabbi Reuven Margolin, the Rier family and friends from Dnepropetrovsk, Rabbis Moshe Moskowitz, Levi Raices and Shlomo Segal from Kharkov and members of the community in Konatop.

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