The Year of Our Torah

A Wonderful Day At Shomrei Torah

Our synagogue was buzzing all day long, and part of the evening too, for Year of Our Torah events with tots to adults � despite the Super Bowl. The day began with our Tot Shabbat group, led by talented Tot Shabbat teacher Lauren Kalmanson, hearing from Rabbi George and Rabbi Menachem who explained how the Torah letters would be filled it, and how important an experience it would be for each child and family. Each family was called to the bima to hold on to the quill and help Rabbi Menachem write a letter. Later in the afternoon our STaRS kids in grades K-3 had their assembly with Rabbi Menachem, and in a joyous yet orderly manner (thanks to Billie Blumenthal and a large group of volunteers led by Melissa Ike) there was a steady stream of small groups of children writing their letters. It was deeply moving to see how very seriously the children fulfilled the Mitzvah of creating a Torah scroll, so much so that it brought tears to all of our eyes. Parents watched with pride as their children wrote their letters and everyone took photos (go to www.shomreitorah. org to view a slide show).

A brief dinner break was followed by an hour of mostly adults inscribing their letters. During that time, almost 30 members of the adult B�nai Mitzvah groups, organized by Judith Goleman, had their own dinner in one of the classrooms, and then they wrote letters from 8:00 to 9:30 PM accompanied by impromptu chanting.

Thank you to Cynthia Calmenson and Paul Munson, who created a chuppah for the Torah-signing table, which added both solemnity and festivity to the atmosphere. About two dozen volunteers spent much of the day managing this spiritual and community-building event.

Thank you to the Year of Our Torah committee for making this day and every Torah signing day a special one for Shomrei Torah: Marlene Stein, Paul Munson, Gesher Calmenson, Billie Blumenthal, Rabbi George, Manny Nestle and Fran Brumlik.

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Important dates

Last Chance for Torah Letter Writing Monday, August 31, 2009 Spaces for Sunday, August 30 are filled. If you haven't yet submitted a sponsorship form to write a letter, please do so now. If you have already been assigned a time to write and discover that you won't be able to attend, please notify us ASAP so that we can assign the space to another person. Click here to download the RSVP form

Torah Dedication - November 15, 2009