A few years ago, Shauly tossed out to me that he thinks it would be very meaningful for us to get a sefer Torah l'iluey nishmas Yossi a'h. I hemmed and hawed. I always wanted one, but it is just sooo much money. A friend of mine did one a few years ago. She told me, "Leah, just do it. The money will come. You will see. You will commit to it, and the money will come." I can commit to smaller amounts, and know that Hashem will send the money. I've done it before. Just pledge money to charity, and yes, something always happens to fulfill the pledge. But this is different. A Sefer Torah costs as much as Jewish wedding, if not more. So the idea was in the back of my mind, sort of like, when I win the Lotto type thing. (I guess you actually have to buy tickets to win, but that is another story, right?)
A few weeks ago, I went to a bar mitzvah. Now, as anyone who knows me knows, I DON'T DO BAR MITZVAHS. I decided years ago it was just too painful. Why put myself through this torture? It was hard enough to make my own son's bar mitzvahs. That is enough. However, this time, it was my mechutan's (daughter-in-law's mother -- no English word for that) son's bar mitzvah. I was in NY anyway for my brother's son's upsherin (first hair cut at the age of 3). So I figured, why not go? Friday night as we were walking to the meal, I said to myself, "What am I doing here? Why did I come???" I was thinking, maybe I would skip the actual bar mitzvah part of the weekend ... maybe no one would notice. The next morning, I put on my big girl pants, and went to the shul. During part of the service, her son was handed the sefer Torah to hold. Seeing him stand there holding the sefer Torah with so much love and pride in his face, well ... right then and there, I decided that it is totally time to do it. While Yossi himself would never do that, I could at least have a sefer Torah that family members could hold with love and pride.
Now it just so happens that Yossi's childhood friend Adam is in town. Adam also happens to be a sofer, a scribe who writes religious items, like tefillin or mezuzah or a sefer Torah. I spoke to him briefly about it two years ago, but I was just not ready to make that commitment right then. Then I bumped into him before one of the yom tovim. We spoke briefly about the sefer Torah, but just left it at, I wanna do it someday. Last night, Simchas Torah, I saw him in shul. He lives in Israel, so for him, it wasn't yom tov anymore. For me, well, I know you are allowed to talk about a mitzva on Shabbos, so I figured it was OK to talk about this. He was so kind to spend a long time speaking with me. A sefer Torah is a huge project. He needs at least 18 months to complete. It is written on parchment paper with a quill and ink. My favorite Judaica site has misc. information on a Torah scroll here: Torah Scroll Facts Being that it was Simchas Torah, and people all around were dancing with Torahs, I just felt that the time is right. I said, "Let's do it. Let's make this happen."
The number he quoted is terrifying to me. More than double what I thought the entire project was going to cost. That doesn't include other costs, such as the mantel (cover), yad (silver reading stick), keser Torah (silver crown), but even with all that ... it looks like ... IT'S A GO!
YOSSI IS IY'H GETTING A SEFER TORAH!!!
I just hope Moshiach comes before so he can rejoice with his own sefer Torah. And if chas v'shalom he doesn't, well, keep the weekend of March 22, 2019 open, cuz that will be his 18th yartzeit. That is my projected date for the project to be completed. Being that this is a huge project with a 2 1/2 year time line, I do plan to update here with progress and feelings. So stay tuned.
Yossi's 7th birthday party
Look who we bumped to in Silver Springs!
Yossi (a'h) had shingles; hence the red on his face.
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