Bellingham Orthodox Jewish community celebrates completion of new Torah Scroll
For the first time in at least 17 years, Bellingham’s Orthodox Jewish community celebrated the completion of a new Torah Scroll.
The Torah is considered the word of God so completing it on a scroll holds strong significance in Judaism.
“It’s the ultimate community celebration — the idea that this represents something that is not just one person or one thing, but an entire community. Everybody has to be involved. Everybody has to be connected,” Bellingham Jewish community Rabbi Avremi Yarmush said Wednesday, Sept. 21.
According to Yarmush, who leads the Rohr Center for Jewish Life-Chabad, the Torah is used as a guidebook for life.
In order to properly honor the completion of the scroll, a celebratory gathering is held. The scribe, who writes the scroll, leaves the last few lines unfinished to be completed during the celebration.
People are invited to participate by handing the scribe a feather quill, which he uses to finish the last lines.
Completing a Torah Scroll costs thousands of dollars and often takes up to six months. It’s handwritten on parchment, in Hebrew, after the scribe undergoes several years of training.
The Torah Scroll features the five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
