Harlem Gives Birth to First Torah Scroll in 75 Years

Not too long ago, it might have been one of the least likely locations from where a religious scribe would start writing a Torah scroll, but on Sunday, families and friends affiliated with a Jewish center in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem gathered to celebrate just such an occasion.

Coming five years after Rabbi Shaya and Goldie Gansbourg established Chabad-Lubavitch of Harlem, Sunday’s morning ceremony featured a child-friendly explanatory talk from religious scribe Rabbi Yehuda Clapman and the writing of the new scroll’s first Hebrew letters.

“We started writing our own Torah for the community,” said Shaya Gansbourg. “We’ll read from it and dance with it. It will illuminate and guide our community.”

It’s likely the first Torah to be commissioned in Harlem in the past 75 years, said Yeshiva University professor Jeffrey Gurock, author of the book When Harlem was Jewish, 1870-1930. Once home to close to 175,000 Jews and 200-odd synagogues, Harlem was both convenient to subways and a place where it was possible to take part in the New York City experience from the shelter of a Jewish life.

In the last 10 years, young Jewish professionals and families started moving back.

“I think it’s very exciting,” said Gurock. “There’s a lot of growth potential in Harlem.”

Many of the new arrivals are getting involved in the Chabad House’s programs, hearing about its offerings from word of mouth, flyers, its affiliated Hebrew school and other events. Sunday’s Torah celebration, at which Hensha Gansbourg dedicated the scroll in memory of her husband, Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Gansbourg, marks another chapter in the organization’s growth, said its rabbi.

“To me this is the ultimate way to remember a person,” Hensha Gansbourg said of the new Torah. “It’s always there.”

Her son-in-law, Chasidic scholar Rabbi Simon Jacobson, agreed.

“My father-in-law was an extraordinary man,” stated the rabbi. “Just 50, 60 years ago and definitely the last millennium or two, whenever our enemies would attack a Jewish city, what would the Jews do? They’d run in to burning buildings to save Torah scrolls.

“Every Torah scroll is another blueprint,” he added, “the beginning of new life and a new part of our journey.”

Gansbourg pointed to a small boy leaning over to peer at the lettering as the scribe explained the process.

“This memory is going to live with him his whole life,” she said.

Beejhy Barhany, whose children attend Hebrew school classes at the Chabad Hosue, said that in addition to the Torah dedication, the program was about much more than just the day’s events.

“It’s to get the whole feeling of Judaism,” explained Barhany, mother of a six-year-old and two-year-old.

Laura Mahalel, whose daughter Ahuva, 5, also goes to the Hebrew school, said she is glad her daughter has the opportunity to learn about Jewish tradition in such a warm and enjoyable environment.

Mahalel got involved several years ago after Goldie Gansbourg approached her in a local cafe to ask if she needed a place for Passover. She already had plans, but made her way to the Gansbourgs’ Mommy and Me classes and other events.

“This is such a rare and special treat. I’ve never seen the start of a Torah,” she said of Sunday’s program.

The event had special significance to Mahalel, coming just after her grandmother’s passing the night before. She chose to dedicate a verse in her memory from last week’s Torah portion, picking a passage she felt would be the perfect fit for her family’s matriarch.

“It’s helping me ensure that our tradition will continue,” she said.

Maura Rosberger came with her husband Richard and sons Harry, 6, and Sam, 3, to the event. The family moved from Manhattan’s Upper East Side to Harlem in May, and she said she’s grateful to have found a Jewish place so close to home that welcomes her children as participants in synagogue and makes services accessible to parents with small kids.

“We very much admire what Chabad does,” she said. “They have anchored a Jewish community in this neighborhood.”

Dani Grois, who lives in Harlem, recently found out about the center when he was looking online for someone to check his mezuzah and prayer boxes known as tefillin. He surveyed the crowd clustered by the scribe’s table and asked for one of the synagogue’s donation forms when they came by.

“It’s so great to know I have a synagogue next to my house,” he said, adding that he was glad it’ll have a new Torah for upcoming holidays. “I’m very happy to hear about it.”

Added Chaim Lazaros, who used to live in the neighborhood and came in from Brooklyn to take part in the community occasion: “This is the Jewish Harlem renaissance.”