The Diamond-Penn Torah Dedication
By Michael and Janette Diamond.
Having made a contribution to the Renewal Project some time ago, we had been wrestling with an appropriate naming opportunity for some time in order to honour Janette’s parents, Mila and Jack Penn. Indoor, outdoor, rooms, gardens…what to do….?? Then we were offered the opportunity of dedicating one of the Temple’s Torah’s in their memory… How special, we thought!
The Torah is the consistent multi-thousand year underpinning of Judaism and the Jewish People. Janette’s parents were synagogue people, and indeed were one of the founding families of Beth Emeth. And so we chose to dedicate a Torah in their memory! And so the Torah has been part of our history, and so it will continue….
Rabbi Splansky turned the opportunity into something very special. We were given the opportunity to “touch and feel” the Torah’s, and learn about the various histories of the alternatives open to us. We chose a particular Torah, in part because of how it was written, and because of its source. Somehow it spoke to us.
With our youngest son Ari about to be married to the love of his life, Carly Bennie, on November 19th, we decided to combine their auf ruff with the Torah dedication during the same Saturday morning service. And how special that turned out to be,Ari and our family and Carly and her family were all able to experience the solemnity of the auf ruff, together with the dedication of the chosen Torah in memory of Janette’s parents by our family- Michael and Janette, Jesse, Cole and Shelby, Ari and Carly.
There were other highlights as well. Singing the Hallelujah prayer to the music of Leonard Cohen, who had just passed, and memorializing the veterans during the week of remembrance day were two. We also delighted in the D’var Israel of Holy Blossom’s UJA Shinshinim who spoke about Rabin and the polarization in Israel around his memory.
Properly completed with an excellent meal in the Enkin Boardroom, we went home very happy with everything that had taken place, the integration of Ari and Carly’s auf ruff with the dedication of “our” Torah to Janette’s parents, together with the acknowledgement of our veterans and the words of our shinshinim. It was a very special morning, one we will not soon forget.
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