The synagogue dedicated a new Torah recently.
By: David Pescatore
EAST WINDSOR Approximately 150 people were on hand at Beth El Synagogue May 18, to celebrate the completion of the congregation’s newest Torah, the first ever commissioned by the group.
The Torah, the first five books of the Tanakh (Christian Old Testament), and the holiest of Jewish texts, is a binding set of laws from God to his people.
"This is a special time," said Rabbi Jay Kornsgold, who penned the final word of the text, "Israel."
"When completing the final letter of the Torah, the heavens open up and God hears. This is the most intense time with God. Some never get to see the end of the writing. It is a moving experience."
The dedication ceremony began with a procession of children from Beth El’s religious school. They carried flags while Cantor Larry Brandspiegel sang. The procession was followed by performances from the congregation’s adult and children’s choirs.
After the revelry, one blast from a Shofar, a ram’s-horn trumpet, called the masses to attention as teen-aged members of the congregation marched in carrying the synagogue’s eight existing Torahs and the newest creation.
As the new Torah was passed off to an adult, who carried it to the pulpit where the final verses would be transcribed, more children marched in carrying the quill and ink that would be used for the writing.
Once the tools were in place, there was a dramatic reading of the delivery of the first Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai, complete with flickering lights and sound effects to simulate thunder and lightning.
The Torah then was completed by 15 selected members of the congregation. They were selected either because of their financial support of the $40,000 project of because of their history of service to the synagogue.
Once the new Torah was complete, each of the existing scrolls is passed under a canopy, followed lastly by the latest addition.
"The present Torahs all welcome the new one," Rabbi Kornsgold said.
At the end of the ceremony, proclamations are read and everyone agrees to commit to the teachings contained in the work.
The newest Torah traveled around the world before being delivered to East Windsor.
The writing was a yearlong project done in Israel. Portions of completed parchment were sent to Florida, where Rabbi Moshe Druin checked the accuracy of the work and sewed the fragments together with a special animal-hide thread. Any mistake in the printing would render the work less-than-perfect, unworthy of God, and worthless.
Rabbi Kornsgold said that the Torah was made with a lightweight parchment to make it easier to carry. It was attached to dark-brown, wooden rollers trimmed in silver.
It is kept covered with a blue cloth mantle, inscribed in red with the Hebrew words "Shema Yisrael," or "Hear, Oh Israel."
Aside from the honor associated with writing a Torah, Rabbi Kornsgold said that the 613th of the Torah’s 613 commandments is for each believer to transcribe a Torah.
"We realize that not everyone can do this, but you can either pay someone to do it for you or contribute to the writing," he said.
"Everyone who participated or wrote in it, it’s as if they did it. They have fulfilled the commandment."
The new Torah was used for the first time on Saturday, May 24.

