[yshavurah] <no subject>
- From: toni dosik <tdosik@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Havurah <yshavurah@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2004 11:51:52 -0500
Dear all,
Yesterday was the first time we had our torah at our services. I was quite
amazed at my own reactions to this experience.
Although I understood Jay's excitement about having "our own" torah, I
wasn't really sure that I shared his sense of how important this was. But,
I understood, after this Saturday's experience, what he might be feeling and
talking about.
As a youngster, the Torah always was something very far away. Literally and
figuratively. Literally in the sense that it was kept hidden in this
"closet", behind the sacred curtain, and only brought out and touched by
"special" people. And, in the synagogue I attended, all of that occurred
physically at a long distance from where I sat.
And, of course, I couldn't read it. So figuratively, it was also very far
away.
Rabbi Gevirtz helped change that for me. First she brought the torah out of
its "hiding place". Again, both literally and figuratively. She brought it
to Rockford and I could actually get close to it and watch it being read
(which I found amazing). And, I learned to read Hebrew (or at least
recognize all the letters), so it became less distanced in that respect as
well.
Yesterday, we all crowded around the Torah after Randi read from it. We got
very close, looked at both the damaged letters and the beautiful
calligraphy. And it wasn't something that was someone else's. It wasn't
just for those "special" people who were permitted to get close and capable
of reading it. It was actually "mine". I could get close, I could read it.
We all could get close; we will all be able to read it.
It was quite a profound experience; one that I didn't expect.
Len and I talked about this a bit yesterday and he made an interesting
point. One of the good things about not having it be kosher is that is may
be MORE accessible this way (slightly damaged, used, not perfect). I don't
think this is necessarily a reason NOT to have it repaired and made perfect,
but it is something to think about.
In any case, having this torah can have a lot of meaning, even for those of
us who may be on the more secular end of the YS Havurah spectrum.
Toni
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