New Chabad House Celebrates Arrival of First Torah
The first new Torah scroll for the 2-month-old Pollack Chabad Center for Jewish Life in Chandler, Arizona was inducted for use Sunday.
Donated by the Irv and Sima Hoffman family of Ahwatukee, the meticulously hand-lettered, three-foot scroll was celebrated by the Chabad community as they welcomed a bride and groom.
At noon, the Hoffman family carried the scroll under a wedding canopy, or chupah, leading a procession accompanied by live music. A dedication ceremony followed before it was placed in the Holy Ark with the Chabad’s four other scrolls.
This is the first new Torah for the congregation, and was flown with a Chabad Center member from Israel, where it had been handwritten by a certified Torah scribe, or sofer. The $30,000 Torah scroll occupied its own seat on the plane.
“The Torah is essentially the greatest gift God gave us; it’s holy and can’t be shipped like just any package,” explained Rabbi Mendy Deitsch, director of Chabad of the East Valley.
The Torah, which contains the five books of Moses in the original Hebrew, is read several times a week during prayer.
Its creation is a painstaking process. “This Torah took well over a year to complete,” said Deitsch. “It takes so long because timeless laws apply to everything from the character of the scribe, who is certified, to the quality of the parchment and type of ink used.”
The scroll’s parchment is specially made from the skin of a kosher animal treated by the sofer. A special black ink and feather quill are used to inscribe the pages, each of which contains 42 lines.
Deitsch said that the exacting Torah law prescribes the shape, size and spacing of each of the Torah’s 304,808 letters. Once completed, without error, the pages are sewn together with sinews.
At Sunday’s formal ceremony, participants had the opportunity to fill in a letter of the new Torah, alongside a scribe.
The Holy Ark was designed by architect and congregant Ilan Baldinger, and was donated by Chabad members Ed and Feiga Mazer of Chandler.
“It is with extreme honor that we extend an open invitation to the community for this special day,” Deitsch said. “With the participation of men, women and children, the celebration, replete with singing, dancing and an extravagant festive meal, will truly be a rare and exciting event, a memory to cherish for the rest of our days — may they be many.”
The Chabad of the East Valley was founded in 1997 by Deitsch and his wife, Shternie.
Following the ceremony, a celebratory procession with live music, dancing and song was held at the Chabad Center, the newly-built synagogue at 875 N. McClintock Drive, Chandler.
The 15,900-square foot Pollack Chabad Center for Jewish Life — a $3.5 million project on 2½ acres at McClintock and Ray roads — was named for the lead contributor, commercial developer Michael Pollack.
