One of the most unique commandments in the Torah is the obligation to write your own Sefer Torah. Codifiers include this as one of the 613 Biblical commandments. Not everyone has the expertise to fulfill the command. It requires knowledge of many laws not to mention the proper writing technique. What then is one to do? How does a lay person unfamiliar with the laws and the calligraphy skills fulfill the command? Maimonides in his code writes: If he does not know how to write himself, they should have others write it for him. Anyone who checks even a single letter of a Torah scroll is considered as if he wrote the entire scroll. (Laws of Sefer Torah 7:1).
The Talmud in Menachot 30a states, “one who writes a Sefer Torah is considered as if he has received it at Sinai. Rav Sheishet said: One who corrects even one letter is considered as if he has written the entire Torah.”
Because of these, and other statements, many Jews have made the writing, or the hiring of a scribe to write a Sefer Torah, a priority. Those unable to write their own have at the very least participated in the command by purchasing a letter in a Sefer Torah.
The practice of purchasing a letter is common and many use the opportunity to dedicate the letter in honor or memory of loved ones. To this end Adas Yeshurun Herzlia Synagogue along with the family of Moe Levy invite you to purchase a letter in a new Sefer Torah that is currently being written in Israel for our congregation.
But this Sefer Torah dedication is unlike any other our city has seen. It will not only be dedicated by the Levy family in memory of their loved one. It will also be dedicated in memory of the 1200 victims of the October 7th massacre in Israel. The memory of those murdered will indelibly be inscribed in the letters of the Torah scroll.
We invite all members of the Jewish community to participate in this important Mitzvah by dedicating letter(s). Each participant will receive a dedication certificate. Once the Torah is completed and brought to Winnipeg a joyful dedication ceremony will take place. Join us in this unique once in a lifetime opportunity.
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