IN
Synagogue List
49
Torah Portion
51
Rabbi
Kasriel
Shemtov
and Phyllis
and Martin
Abel watch
as scribe
Rabbi Levi
Kagan
writes in
letters of the
new Torah.
ABEL FAMILY PASSES DOWN A LOVE OF JEWISH TRADITION
BY DONATING A TORAH TO THE SHUL.
SHELL' LIEBMAN DORFMAN
Staff Writer
A
longtime dream for the addition of a new
Sefer Torah at the Shul-Chabad
Lubavitch became a reality Feb. 2 with a
dedication ceremony that brought a
remarkable and inspirational connection between
generations.
"It began several years ago when Phyllis and
Martin Abel of West Bloomfield wanted to honor
the celebration of their 50th anniversary with a gift
to the Shul," said Rabbi Kasriel Shemtov, who, with
his wife, Itty, directs the West Bloomfield syna-
gogue.
The Abels began working with the late Rabbi
Yitschak Meir Kagan, who died in 2001, to have the
scroll written in memory of their parents, Rebecca
and Morris Abel and Mollie and Abraham
Berkowitz. Because no Shul building existed back
then, and services were held in the Shemtov home,
the plan was put on hold but not forgotten. With
the opening of the new Shul facility last year, plans
to have the Torah written . were reinstated in full
force.
While the Sefer Torah was written in Israel, it
arrived in Detroit deliberately incomplete to allow
participants of the dedication the mitzvah of filling
in the final letters. Scribe Rabbi Levi Kagan of Oak
Park, son of Rabbi Yitschak Kagan, was on hand to
guide those who wanted to write their own letters,
or to stand by him while he wrote the letters for
them.
After the Torah's completion, the 300 guests were
invited to accompany the Torah outside the build-
ing, where it was marched amidst lit torches and
carried under a chuppah (wedding canopy), repre-
sentative of the marriage of the Torah to the Jewish
people.
GENERATION
To
GENERATION on page
46
2/21
2003
45