Special Report
REPAYING A VISIT
Rabbi Sleutelberg,
reading from the
donated Torah
alongside Cantor
Jalda Rebling
Die Rolle Aus Amerika
•••
(The Torah Scroll From America )
Rabbi Arnie Sleutelberq
Special to the Jewish News
A
fter deciding to commission the
writing of a new Torah, the Board
of Trustees of Congregation Shir
Tikvah in Troy decided to share our good
fortune by passing forward a Torah that
had been gifted to us by Temple Beth Jacob
in Pontiac. We sought to find a deserving,
viable, egalitarian congregation for whom
this would be their only Torah.
A Torah donation committee was
formed, applications were distributed
around the world on the Internet and nine
deserving applications were received. The
committee narrowed the field to three
and the Shir Tikvah board chose Ohel
HaChidusch in Berlin, Germany, for sever-
al reasons. First, it is egalitarian and viable
with devoted leadership. Second, unlike
other Berlin congregations, it is welcom-
ing of the intermarried as well as those
who, 60 years after the Holocaust, are
attempting to reconnect with their Jewish
ancestry (though technically not yet
Jewish themselves). And like Shir Tikvah,
it is welcoming of the lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender community.
In Shir Tikvah's new Ark, a place of
holy memory will always be kept for our
Holocaust Torah. It came to us because
its congregation in Eastern Europe was
destroyed. However, now that there is a
resurgent Jewish community in Eastern
Europe, even in Germany's capitol, it is fit-
ting that we return a Torah, the Beth Jacob
Torah, to Eastern Europe, to Berlin, in a
clarion call proclaiming that Am Yisrael
Chai, the People of Israel lives.
and our Torah donation committee chair,
Eileen Nowikowski, passed the Beth Jacob
Torah to Shir Tikvah's Holocaust survivors,
Edith Bernstein, Wolf Gruca, John Kovacs
and my mom, Edith Sleutelberg, who, on
our behalf, passed the Torah to Cantor
Rebling.
In the most moving moment of that
evening, Cantor Rebling accepted the
Torah, tearfully thanked the congrega-
tion and slowly walked off the bimah and
down the aisle as the congregation equally
tearfully sang, "May You Be Blessed As You
Go On Your Way" by Debbie Freedman.
This moment proved once again what we
all know already: that as great as it is to
receive, it's even better to give.
Harkening Back
At our Torah dedication ceremony last
December, Ohel HaChidusch was repre-
sented by its spiritual leader, Cantor Jalda
Rebling. Our president, Erica Peresman,
Time To Consecrate
Nearly a year later, Congregation Ohel
HaChidusch hosted its Torah consecration
ceremony in the sanctuary of what was
formerly a Jewish orphanage. With rep-
resentatives of the Christian and Muslim
faiths in attendance, three rabbis, one
cantor, 20 people connected to Shir Tikvah
and dozens of others, the Beth Jacob Torah
was taken from its newly constructed Ark,
unwrapped from its newly embroidered
wimple, unrolled, read and consecrated.
Seven times, a portion was chanted and
beautiful divrei Torah with blessings were
shared, many by Shir Tikvah members. I
had the privilege of chanting the priestly
benediction.
Iry Wengrow from Troy shared that
being a part of the Kabbalat Shabbat ser-
vice and consecration helped him to know
that we had made the right decision in
gifting the Torah to Ohel HaChidusch. A
film crew documented the evening as well
as reporters from Berlin's newspapers. It
was thrilling to be a part of this historic
event.
Die Rolle aus Amerika on page 12
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January 7 • 2010 11