Plano Synagogue Acquires Third Torah

Plano, TX — With each stroke of his quill pen, Rabbi Menachem Block came one step closer to completing the third and final Torah at the Chabad of Plano.

For certain Jewish holidays, some synagogues prefer to have three Torahs to read from different sections. Until the Torah dedication May 20, the Chabad of Plano had only two Torahs and had to borrow a third from neighboring synagogues.

“Now we are complete,” said Rabbi Block. “We never have to borrow a Torah from another synagogue again.”

Chabad is a sect of Hasidism, a form of Orthodox Judaism.

Congregation members Bernie and Leslee Feiwus decided to purchase the third Torah more than a year ago after Rabbi Block had suggested the Chabad look into acquiring a third scroll.

“This was not a decision to make,” Mr. Feiwus said at last Sunday’s ceremony. “We always wanted to do this, so we did it.”

The Feiwuses then had to decide how to tell the rabbi. One evening they noticed traffic cones missing from the Chabad’s parking lot. They searched several stores and bought several large cones.

They told the rabbi they had a present to give him and invited him to their house. When the rabbi came over, they presented him with the traffic cones. Later that evening they gave him an envelope with a check for the Torah and a letter.

“He was pretty speechless,” Mr. Feiwus said. “It’s not often that he’s at a loss for words.”

Every Torah is inscribed by hand and can cost $25,000 to $40,000 depending on the quality, Rabbi Block said. Within the Torah there are 613 mitzvahs, or commandments. The last mitzvah says that each person shall write his own Torah, Rabbi Block said.

Because of the expense, not every person is able to commission his own Torah, but at times Torah donors can invite members of the congregation to purchase their own letter, word or verse, the rabbi said.

“If a Jew purchases a minimum of one letter, we consider it the writing of a whole Torah,” Rabbi Block said. “Until the last letter is written, it’s not kosher, or fit, to use for other areas of observance.”

The scribe who wrote the Chabad’s Torah, Rabbi Moshe Klein, finished the final part of the scroll at the ceremony, making the Torah kosher and allowing the entire congregation to participate. Rabbi Block wrote the final letter. Congregation members even purchased letters before the ceremony, one asking if he could buy a vowel.

“To experience the moment that the Torah becomes fit for use, that is the source of great joy,” the rabbi said. “It was an honor of a lifetime to have the opportunity to put the finishing touches on the new Torah.”

The third Torah was named the CommUnity Torah. “It’s about everyone’s involvement,” the rabbi said at the ceremony. “Every letter is important. Without a letter, the Torah is invalid. So, too, is the community: Without one Jew, our nation is incomplete.”

The new Torah was first used at Shavuot, a Jewish holiday commemorating the revelation of the Torah, which Jewish tradition teaches was given to Moses on Mount Sinai.

Jewish tradition teaches that for more than 3,000 years, the Torah has been copied word for word exactly the same, spacing and all, according to Mr. Feiwus.

“[The Torah] has never left the Jewish people,” said Rabbi Yosef Yitzchock Jacobson at the ceremony. “This is the celebration of today, the celebration in which you and me connect with generations of Jews not here today but [who] are here in spirit.”

Mr. Feiwus wanted to give this gift to the Chabad he considers home.

“The Chabad has changed our life in many ways. For me to wear a suit and tie on a Sunday morning shows how much Chabad has changed our lives,” Mr. Feiwus joked at the ceremony.

“It was one of the most special events that I’ve participated in, in my 15 years here,” Rabbi Block said.