Torah Started at Nova Site Dedicated in Moving Ceremony

With the Chief Rabbi of Russia in attendance, a new Torah scroll was inaugurated in Moscow’s central shul Marina Roscha. The writing of the sefer Torah began at the tragic site of the ‘Nova’ massacre near Gaza, where 383 people were murdered almost a year ago.

On Monday evening, erev Rosh Chodesh Elul, a moving and impressive ceremony took place in the main hall of the Marina Roscha Jewish Center in Moscow for the completion of a beautiful new sefer Torah. The Torah was dedicated with great excitement and song by the many participants.

The initial letters of this sefer Torah were written about eight months ago at the ‘Nova’ site near Gaza, where terrorists murdered 383 people last year on Simchas Torah. This project, initiated and supported by Chief Rabbi of Russia Rabbi Berel Lazar, donor Mr. Dan Charnik and his family, and community leader Rabbi Mordechai Weissberg, aims to honor the sacred memory of those who perished.

The special sefer Torah was completed and brought to the shul with hashgacha pratis on erev Shabbos Parshas Shoftim, when both the parsha and the Haftorah are connected to that tragic event.

In his address to those gathered, the Chief Rabbi shared the following:

Parshas Shoftim concludes with the section of “Eglah Arufah,” which states: “If a corpse is found in the field which the Hashem gives you to inherit, and it’s unknown who struck him.” In such a case, it is up to the most prominent and important people among the Jews—the members of the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem—to investigate who is responsible for the situation. The elders of the nearby city perform the mitzvah of Eglah Arufah at the nearest stream and declare, “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.”

Rashi asks, “Is it possible that the elders of the court are murderers?” and explains that the meaning is they did not see the slain person, and they sent him off without provisions or escort. The benefit of providing provisions is understandable, as the commentators explain that perhaps due to hunger, he attacked someone who had food, and that person killed him. But what is the benefit of escorting, when the mitzvah of escorting is only walking four cubits?

The explanation, as the Rebbe explains, is that the mitzvah of escorting guests is intended to make a person feel important and recognized. Therefore, it’s not only about providing food, but also about escorting to show that his presence is desired and that we care about him. When a person sets out on a journey under such circumstances, he does not feel alone and abandoned, and this feeling can give him the strength to deal with the dangers of the road.

The passage of Eglah Arufah illustrates the importance of mutual responsibility, “All of Israel are responsible for one another,” and even when a Jew, chas v’shalom, falls in the field—he is cut off from the source of life and light and is not in the city or on the main road, but in an uncultivated field—the responsibility falls on the Sanhedrin and the elders of the city, on those who have the ability to provide spiritual care and thereby also save him physically.

The Haftorah also reminds us of the terrible devastation with pesukim that seem to have been written specifically about this event: “Your children have fainted; they lie at the head of every street.” At the same time, this Haftorah expresses the great and true comfort from Hashem, with its opening, “I, I am He who comforts you,” and promises to Israel, “No more shall the uncircumcised and the unclean enter you… How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace, who brings good news… And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our G-d.”

Photo: Alexei Lapisky