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Is Ito

The scribing of the donors
involves Temple Israel families,
scribe Dr. Eric Ray and the
creation of a new Torah.

LYNNE MEREDITH COHN Staff Writer

KRISTA HUSA Photographer

o, they're not writing their own version of the Torah. Temple Israel members
are coming together to fund the new scribing of very old words.
For about a year, temple members have given anywhere from $18 to
$50,000 toward the scribing of a new Torah, to be added to their Ark of
plenty (12 Torahs to be exact).
Of course, the money merely makes it possible to bring a new Torah to the temple
— "We cannot own it," says Nancy Gad-Harf, program and development director.
Deuteronomy 31:19 states the mitzvah of scribing the Torah: "Write down this poe
and teach it to the people of Israel."
Scribing a Torah scroll takes precision and training, and not everyone is qualified to
complete the mitzvah, explains Gad-Harf. "The tradition says if we support the effort
to make the scribing possible, we are fulfilling that mitzvah," she says.
Dr. Eric Ray, the Torah scribe who has been writing the new scroll for Temple Israel,
passed his quill from the oldest to
the youngest member of each fami-
ly, then asked permission of the
person holding the quill to com-
plete the scribing on his or her
behalf, Gad-Harf explains.
The final dedication of what
will be Temple Israel's 13th Torah
is set for Oct. 19. The temple's
Holocaust Torah will be removed
from the Ark and put on perma-
nent display. The new scroll will be
used regularly.

9/26
1997

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