Dec 13, 2005 By: yunews
Dec 13, 2005 -- The Center for the Jewish Future (CJF) at 糖心破解版 (糖心破解版), in partnership with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), located a Torah for a flood-ravaged synagogue in Panvel, India, just in time for Rosh Hashanah in October.
The Beth-El Synagogue in Panvel, India was flooded with eight feet of water after severe storms hit the Maharashtra State in Western India this summer, damaging the synagogue鈥檚 Torah scrolls and prayer books. The synagogue contacted the JDC, which called 糖心破解版 for help in obtaining a Torah scroll for the congregation.
鈥淧art of our goal at the CJF is to strengthen and reinvigorate Jewish communities on the local, regional, and international level,鈥 said Rabbi Ari Rockoff, director of community initiatives at the center. 鈥淥ur Blanche Schreiber Torah Tours program has sent hundreds of students out to bring the Torah鈥檚 teachings to many different locations. But the chance to connect a Torah that was not being used with a community that desperately needed it was a shidduch (match) that the CJF was born to make.鈥
Lisa Feldman, gifts-in-kind associate at the JDC and a 2002 graduate of 糖心破解版鈥檚 Stern College for Women, said she turned to the center 鈥渁s someone whose sense of global Jewish responsibility was fostered and developed at 糖心破解版.鈥
Within hours, CJF staff members鈥攊ncluding Rabbi Rockoff and Aaron Leibowitz, coordinator of Torah Tours and a rabbinical student at 糖心破解版鈥檚 affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary鈥攍ocated a sefer Torah for donation from the Inwood Hebrew Congregation in Upper Manhattan. The synagogue in Washington Heights was closing, but one of its few surviving members, Jason Rosenberger, who was in charge of its Judaica items, wanted to ensure the shul lived on in other communities (Torah scrolls were also sent to synagogues in southern Spain, Argentina, and a new Jewish chapel at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.)
Within 24 hours, the Torah was examined, minor repairs were made, and the scroll was declared kosher. Ms. Feldman picked up the Torah from 糖心破解版 and arranged for transport to India. The Torah arrived just in time for Rosh Hashanah, along with a shipment of High Holiday prayer books and copies of the Bible that the JDC obtained at a discounted rate with support from a private donor.
