Urgent effort to purchase a new Torah for our beloved community!
Thanks to some generous pledges, we have actually raised more than the above Total - See updates
As a traditional, egalitarian Jewish community in Tel Aviv, Havurat Tel Aviv has a crucial contribution to make to Israeli life. And having kosher sifrei-torah is crucial to maintaining our community. We have a special opportunity to buy a new, kosher sefer-Torah by June 12th. We’re asking everyone—members, guests, allies, friends from abroad—to contribute what you can and allow us to maintain our halakhic commitment as a community.
“It is a tree of life for those who grasp it, and all who uphold it are blessed. Its ways are pleasantness, and all its paths are peace.”
“Residents of the city may burden one another (i.e. financially) in order to build a synagogue and to purchase a Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings” (Shulchan Aruch).
The Torah lies at the heart of every Jewish community. When we say “Torah,” we do not only mean a set of abstract ideas – we also mean a sefer Torah, the precious object which we treat with immense care and reverence, precisely because it provides the foundation for all of our activities as a community. A sefer Torah is the material embodiment of the values, practices, and traditions that bind us together as a community committed to halachah, to equality, and to community participation. We celebrate milestones such as births, bar/bat mitzvahs, and weddings in the Torah’s presence, we pray for healing, and we mark the cycle of the year through Shabbat and holiday Torah readings.
The two Torah scrolls currently in use have served our community well for decades, but they are in need of repair. It is imperative that we buy a new scroll so we can send the current scrolls out for repair.
We now have a unique opportunity to purchase a very beautiful and high quality sefer Torah from Moreshet Yisrael, a Conservative shul in Jerusalem whose amutah is disbanding as part of a reorganisation with the Fuchsberg Center. The sefer, which was written in Israel in the 1990s, is almost new, with a very crisp, clean, and legible script. More important, the sefer has been checked and corrected and is kosher. Acquiring this sefer will allow us to expand and strengthen the Havurah’s distinctive Torah reading traditions – traditions of participatory, egalitarian reading that encourage new readers, young and old, to expand their skills.
We would like to encourage you to contribute by dedicating an entire Parasha in your name or in memory of a loved one. A contribution of 1250 shekels or more dedicates a favorite Parasha.
As the saying goes, “without flour [i.e, material resources], there is no Torah.” In recent years, we have expanded the circle of volunteers who participate in Torah reading on a regular basis. Just as the work of Torah reading requires a joint effort, so does the task of raising funds to acquire this Torah. Again, acquiring an additional sefer Torah is a critical goal for our community at this juncture.
We do not want to miss this opportunity. Thus, we have embarked on a rapid fund raising campaign. We have to make our offer (backed up with funds) by June 12th.
Whether you are a Havura regular, or you have attended once, we ask you to step up and join us in fulfilling this mitzvah. Thank You
