|
YOUNG ISRAEL OF STAMFORD DEDICATES NEW SEFER TORAH IN MEMORY OF KERAV ROITMAN By Michael Feldstein  danced and sang through the streets of the neighborhood on Sunday morning, September 13, accompanying the synagogue's newest Sefer Torah into the sanctuary. The Sefer Torah dedication was the culmination of a yearlong project, in which the shul sponsored many activities relating to Torah study. The new Torah was dedicated in memory of Kerav Roitman, who died at the age of two-and-a-half last August from complications of an infection. "The impact of a Torah in my great-great-grandson's memory is enduring in a way a monument can never be," Estelle Roitman, the family's 92-year-old matriarch, said as she stood before the synagogue to thank its members.
Rabbi Elly Krimsky, the newly hired spiritual leader at the congregation, said, "Bringing in another scroll to our synagogue is a statement of the vibrancy of the Jewish people in general, and specifically, our synagogue." Rabbi Krimsky emphasized that the Sefer Torah program should not stop with the official dedication of the Torah.
“Today our shul dedicated a Sefer Torah,” said Rabbi Krimsky. “I hope we will now all dedicate ourselves to the Torah—and its eternal values.” Eliezer Silverman, a longtime member of the Young Israel of Stamford, chaired the Sefer Torah project, and spearheaded a committee of shul members that worked tirelessly throughout the year to make sure that the project was a success.
The dedication’s festivities began after morning services. More than 100 people gathered in front of the home of Brian and Sonia Roitman, the parents of Kerav, to accompany the Torah on its short march to the synagogue.
 Rabbi Krimsky worked with members of the committee to design a meaningful service that was conducted once the Torah arrived in the sanctuary.
The program included the recitation of traditional prayers, along with a special prayer on behalf of parents (read by two teenagers) and a prayer on behalf of our children (read by two parents). There were several community leaders who spoke after the Torah was placed in the ark: Rabbi Yisroel Deren, the Director of Chabad of Stamford; Rabbi Daniel Cohen, the Spiritual Leader of Congregation Agudath Sholom; Rabbi Ira Ebbin, the former Spiritual Leader at the Young Israel of Stamford and now the Rabbi at the Beth Zion Synagogue in Montreal;
and Rabbi Simcha Schustal, the Rosh Yeshiva at the Bais Binyomin Yeshiva in Stamford. To commemorate the dedication, Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy declared Sept. 13 Sefer Torah Day in Stamford. The program ended with a festive brunch.
|