Event in memory of terrorist attack victims, will featuring live music, parade and dancing
The Jewish community of Folsom and El Dorado Hills will be completing and welcoming a special Torah scroll — Judaism’s most sacred object — with a unique and celebratory ritual ceremony and parade this Sunday, Aug. 25 at the Chabad Jewish Community Center in Folsom.
The new Torah is being dedicated in memory of those who were killed by Hamas terrorists in Israel on October 7th. It is also in honor of those wounded, those held hostage, and those who suffered the loss of family and friends; as well as the self-sacrifice of all those who intervened to defend and rescue fellow Jews on that dark day.
“The Torah is what has maintained the Jewish people through generations of persecution and is an appropriate eternal commemoration of all the victims of the horrific terrorist attacks in Israel almost a year ago,” said Rabbi Yossi Grossbaum, director of Folsom-based Chabad Jewish Community Center, the organization who has commissioned the scribe and will be hosting the event. “The Torah defines our very identity as Jewish people and every time it will be used, it will bring honor to the victims of terror.”
An expert ritual scribe will ink the final letters of the magnificent scroll, as done 3,300 years ago for the very first time by Moses. Following the completion of the Torah, the sacred scroll will be taken to the streets under a traditional canopy in a joyous procession that will include a float, live music, torches and dancing.
An authentic Torah scroll is a mind-boggling masterpiece of labor and skill. Comprising between 62 and 84 sheets of parchment-cured, tanned, scraped and prepared according to exact Torah law specifications, and containing exactly 304,805 letters, the resulting handwritten scroll takes close to a year to complete. Timeless dictums hold for a certified Torah scribe and everything from the character of the scribe to the quality of the parchment and type of ink are taken into account. The slightest error voids the entire 54-portion parchment.
Sunday’s event will take place from 4:30 until 5:30 Sunday at the Chabad Jewish Community Center, 302 South Lexington Drive in Folsom.
About the Chabad Jewish Community Center: Chabad has actively promoted a greater awareness of the concepts of education, morality and decency amongst all people for many years, in the United States and throughout the world. Chabad offers Jewish education, outreach and social service programming for families and individuals of all ages, backgrounds and affiliations. There are over 10 Chabad Centers in the Greater Sacramento region, the first was established by emissaries of the Rebbe in 1994
