Events B'reishit What It Means Meet the Sofer

"B'reishit" Was Written In A Celebration of Music, Dance and Chocolate

Shir Hadash has been blessed with a number of special moments in its life as a congregation, all of which led in some way to the special moment on January 22, 2005, when we embarked on a journey that will be nearly eleven months in the making--the writing of a new Torah. If you think of a congregation as a person who is created from the outside-in, from the skin to the flesh and the bones, this special moment marks the creation of our heart. It is appropriate that we engage in this mitzvah in 2005, our 25th year, as this act is an expression of the maturity and depth of our congregational life.

Our Torah-writing journey is a time of celebration and learning, and an experience in which all members of the congregation can participate. The historic journey began on Saturday night, January 22, when hundreds of us gathered for a celebration, "historically" cloaked in the style of a European Jewish wedding of the 19th century. Music filled the air, and honey was on our lips, just as the young cheder students were treated to honey as they began their Torah studies. We swayed to the klezmer tunes of the The Red Hot Chatchkes, along with Yiddish and Hebrew songs sung by our own choir. Our special Rebbe and Sofer, Rabbi Druin, guided the hands of the congregants who wrote the first words of B'reishit in our own Shir Torah. We raised our voices in song, we danced, and our taste-buds were tantalized by a chocolate-style oneg--OY! What a simcha it was! January 22 was indeed a spirited celebration of Shir Torah.

Rabbi Druin, our Sofer, and Rabbi Aron opened the ceremony for our "Year of Torah"

B'reshit is written

The book of Genesis

Everyone wants to see the new Torah!

Writing a letter in the Torah

We danced and danced

More letters were written on Sunday