Shavuot marks the “giving of the Torah” at Sinai more than 3,300 years ago. That will have even greater meaning this year for 12 communities in four different countries that will be given their very own Torah scrolls for use by the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Beis Yisroel Torah Gemach.
Rabbi Bentzion Chanowitz, who directs the charitable organization, says that fully refurbished Torahs are en route to Paris; Argentina; Waterloo, Ontario; London, Ontario; Gurnee, Ill.; Overland Park, Kan.; Onley, Md.; Los Altos, Calif.; Amherst, Mass.; Denver; and Philadelphia. They are loaned out for different time periods, mainly until the recipients can arrange for permanent Torahs.
“When I called one recipient that I had a Torah for him,” says Chanowitz, “the rabbi told me that he had been informed just a half-hour before that the Torah he had been borrowing until then would not be available on Shavuot. We were both so pleased that they would have their new loaner Torah in time for the holiday.”
An additional scroll, which is in too poor condition to be repaired, was dispatched to Sharon, Mass. There, Chabad Rabbi Yosef Resnick, who is a certified scribe, will use the Torah to educate children and adults about the process of writing and repairing Torah scrolls, in addition to other ritual objects.
Started four years ago, Beis Yisroel Torah Gemach is a project of Merkos Suite 302 in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Learn more about the work of Beis Yisroel Torah Gemach in supplying Torahs to communities in need:
International Arrivals: 8 Torah Scrolls Dedicated to Victims of Terror in Israel
Q&A: Brooklyn Pharmacist’s Passion to Lend Out Torah Scrolls Globally
No Torah Scrolls on Mars Yet, but One Small Step Closer
‘Matchmaker, Matchmaker: Make Them a (Torah) Match’
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