A Timeless Circle

Writing a Torah is a timeless connection to the past and a key to a Jewish future. At the center of Judaism is the living Torah scroll that helps us navigate the spiral of life. We rally in a joyous circle (hakafot) around the Torah, proclaiming: Am Yisroel Chai.

Mrs. Rochel Leah Schusterman

This Torah is dedicated to Mrs. Rochel Leah Schusterman, of blessed memory. She was a community leader, a teacher to many and a mother to her 11 children. She passed away suddenly at the age of 36 leaving behind a bereft community and a timeless legacy. Mrs. Schusterman, affectionately known as Morah Schusterman by her students, taught by example; focusing on the value of each and every person she came in contact with, affecting them positively and ensuring that the Jewish past has a Jewish future. This Torah is being written in honor of her 30th Yartzeit. The Torah will be hosted by the Harford Chabad Center for Jewish Life led by her youngest son Kushi and his wife Fraida.

One Torah, One People

One letter in the Torah corresponds to each and every Jewish soul. Whilst holding the Torah, we hold the collective Jewish soul in the palm of our hands. Just as each letter of the Torah is essential to its integrity — its absence invalidating the entire scroll — so is each and every Jewish person of paramount significance. Like the letters in the Torah, every Jew embodies an integral and inseparable part of the Jewish people. Without labels or differences, regardless of background or affiliation, the Torah connects us to each other, one letter at a time, to be “One People.” It’s a Major Mitzvah!

The Torah’s 613th mitzvah/commandment is for each of us to write a Torah scroll. Minimally, this mitzvah can be observed by commissioning the writing of at least part of the Torah scroll. By dedicating a letter, word, verse or chapter in the Torah for yourself, your family members or friends, or in memory of departed loved ones, it is considered as if you have written your very own Torah scroll.

Harford Chabad offers you the opportunity to be a part of this Community Torah. The Schusterman family (Rabbi Kushi and his siblings) and an anonymous donor are dedicating this Torah in memory of their mother, Morah Rochel Leah Schusterman.

Please consider joining in this great mitzvah!