A new Jewish Center, established by the The National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education to serve the Windsor Terrace community, welcomed its first Torah scroll during a lively procession through the streets of Brooklyn.
Passersby stopped in their tracks, watching in wonderment as adults and children marched and danced along Prospect Avenue to the new Chabad Jewish Center, 1266 Prospect Avenue, with live music and a police escort. Once at the new center, the traditional hakafot dancing around the new Torah was started.
Long-time supporters Neil Kupferman and Scott Kupferman were honored with the lifting and dressing of the new scroll, and Rabbi Shea Hecht, chairmanof the NCFJE, placed the elaborate silver crown on top of the Torah.
Rabbi Shimon Hecht, senior shliach of Brownstone Brooklyn, then blew the shofar (ram’s horn) in honor of the coming New Year and Binyomin Cohen blessed everyone with the birchhat kohanim (blessings of the descendants of Aaron the Priest).
During the dancing, a member of the community approached Rabbi Moshe Hecht and handed him a check of $25,000, his gift to the new center.
“The Torah is what unites all Jews, from all walks of life,” said Rabbi Moshe Hecht, director of the Chabad Jewish Center. “Welcoming a new Torah is the greatest way to achieve the unity and joy that we need to enter a New Year.”
For more, go to www.windsorterracechabad.com or call 718-938-1435.
