Learning to write a Torah
Everything old is new again at Temple Chai.
Written by hand in Hebrew, using a quill and special inks on parchment, the Torah contains the written law, believed to be given to Moses at Mount Sinai more than 3,000 years ago. A portion is read and studied on every Shabbat.
Writing a Torah yourself is on the list of 613 Mitzvot (good deeds) that guide Jews in their daily lives.
"But most people never have an opportunity to fulfill it," said Torah scribe Neil Yerman of New York.
Yerman was on hand last week to write portions of the new Torah for Temple Chai, which is providing endowment possibilities for congregation members.
Past temple president and Wheeling resident Marcia Rosenblum asked, "What better gift is there than the very essence of our being?"
"Members agreed they wanted a new Torah scroll to mark our 36th anniversary year," she said.
Congregants and other members of the community make donations suggested by project organizers to participate in the Torah writing. Donations range from as low as $18 to the thousands.
The scribe makes a lesson out of the writing sessions. Depending on the age of the participants, Yerman brings lessons about Torah to their level, even turning to images from Harry Potter to grab them. He will return in February, during Presidents Day weekend.
Leah Miska, immediate past president of the sisterhood, organizes scheduling for Torah writers. Last week, she welcomed one of the Reform temple's 975 families into the sanctuary where they would begin the process of learning how to write words in the new scroll, which contains 5,845 verses, 187 chapters, between 62 and 65 pieces of parchment, and 304,805 letters.
David and Helene Wengerhoff of Buffalo Grove and their children Matthew, 15 and Allison, 12, listened attentively as Yerman described the turkey feather quill and the special inks they would use, as his hand guided them to write their letters.
Helene was clearly moved as she said, "I never dreamed I'd take part in anything like this."
Among the younger Torah writers at the first session was 18-month-old Alana Rosenblum. The son and daughter-in-law of Marcia and Mike Rosenblum, Matt and Jenny, of Grayslake, added their own letters and they wanted their daughter to be part of the project. It's even possible that she will read from the new scroll at her Bat Mitzvah.
Marcia's mother, Shirley Jacobson of Wheeling also wrote in the new scroll. At age 85 she was the oldest of the four generations in the family to participate.
By the end of the project, the members will have written the first piece of parchment in their new scroll, which is expected to last for at least 100 years.
The rest of the scroll will be written in Israel. Yerman, who said he has always loved penmanship, will carefully remove the first piece, since Torahs must be written from the beginning, and he will carefully sew in the piece that the members of Temple Chai have written.
Dedication of the new scroll is scheduled for May 9, 2008.
It will be new, but it will contain the words that have taught and guided the Jewish people for centuries.