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Dear Friends,
Our first community Sefer Torah will soon be completed. This Torah scroll will stand as a tribute to the victims of the October 7th terror attacks. The completion ceremony will include a memorial to our sisters and brothers as well as opportunities for us to memorialize the victims in personal and active ways.
Torahs are the center of Jewish life, in our practice and ritual, as well our national identity and way of thinking. Growing up, I learned from my Holocaust-survivor grandfather that the Torah's response to attack and destruction is neither paralysis-from-pain, nor to simply move on. Instead our response is to channel and harness that pain into building beauty, connection and continuity in our communities, our institutions and ourselves, in a way that keeps those precious souls with us. It is for those reasons that we are so look forward to paying tribute to the October 7th victims in this way.
At the event, you will have the opportunity to write a letter in the Memorial Torah which will forever represent not only you and your family in our Torah, but also one of the 1,200 victims of that awful day. After writing in the Torah, you will emboss the victim's name on a piece of leather cut from the leather used to make our Torah's cover, and keep that with you---be it on your keys or in your pocket---as a reminder that we each are carrying the victims forward.
After finishing the Torah's last letters, we will celebrate our Torah, our people, and our fallen through traditional musical Torah procession, followed by an Israeli dinner buffet.
Please stay tuned for more details about the event as we get closer to the date.
Looking forward to seeing you there.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Ari & Sarah Herson
In coordination with Morris County and Mendham Township Police, additional security measures will be in place to ensure the safety of all attendees.
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