Almost forty years ago one of our Torahs went on a journey. Dr. Paul Davis was in Israel on a tour when it came to him that he wanted to purchase a Torah. In Jerusalem he found a scribe and was able to attain a Torah. Now, he had a problem, how to get it back to the US. As he boarded the flight, he held the Torah closely to him. This was his prized possession and he would not let it go. He went to put it in an overhead bin, but it wouldn’t fit. The flight attendants were getting upset, they were insisting it get checked in and go below the plane. Dr. Davis insisted that it stay nearby him, that he was the Torah’s protector. The dispute went all the way to the pilot, who sided with Dr. Davis and found the perfect place for it to be stored during the flight. Finally, he arrived in Buffalo and went directly to Rabbi Kerman’s office where he presented it to the congregation. Rabbi Kerman told him this was exactly what the congregation needed. Finally we would have the three Torahs necessary to have a complete collection. A celebration ensued and the Torah was officially welcomed into the synagogue community.
Last week, Dr. Davis shared with me this wonderful story that is both his story and our congregation’s story as well. It highlights the joy we have in Torah, not just the stories within it, but the physical scrolls as well.
On Sunday night at 7:00 at CSS and Monday morning at 10:30 at TBZ Delaware, we will really have a chance to experience that same sense of joy Dr. Davis had when we dance with the Torahs on Simchat Torah. Seven times around the congregation we go, until finally unrolling it all the way so that we can see the full text, we read from both the end and the beginning, starting a Torah cycle again. We continue to do this year after year after year, each time as if it was the first time. As it says in the Talmud, “Turn it, turn it, everything is in it.”
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Alex
Last Updated on 10/21/2016 by wpadm