Members of the Johns Hopkins Jewish Community gathered on Sunday to witness the dedication of the new Torah to the Homewood campus. Brothers Erwin Sekulow and Dr. Eugene Sekulow, both Hopkins alumni, in conjunction with their wives Marianne and Sue, were responsible for making the sizeable donation that enabled the purchase of the Hopkins Hillel's first Torah.
Until now, the Hillel has previously borrowed Torahs from local synagogues for religious ceremonies. For the first time ever, the Hopkins community has a Torah of its own.
Rabbi Joe Menashe, Erwin Sekulow and other members of the Hillel staff were involved with the selection the chosen Torah. The Torah was handmade in Israel on parchment and then every piece but the last was sewn together and shipped to the U.S.
Rabbi Benjamin Spiro then checked the Torah for mistakes. "I put in about 30 hours, looking at the letters to make sure they were all right," he said. "Then I sewed on the last piece, and attached the wooden rollers."
The last piece is not sewn on until the Torah arrives at its resting place, because "it is not officially a Torah until it is one complete piece," Rabbi Spiro said.
"We do not want it to be a Torah while it is getting bumped around during shipment, because the Torah is so holy."
Therefore, the last piece is always sewn on once the Torah is secure in its final destination.
Spiro began Sunday's ceremony by completing the Torah. 35 letters had intentionally been left unwritten. As each chosen honoree of the Hillel community was called forward, he or she watched as the scribe, Spiro, filled in a letter in reverence.
When 29 of the letters were completed, the ceremony moved into the reception hall, where onlookers were greeted by a Klezmer Band. The Torah was brought into the hall by Menashe, who held the scripture under a chuppa, or marriage canopy, signifying the holy union of the Torah.
Menashe began the ceremony by reflecting on current events. "Recently we've seen how religion can be used as a weapon, as a source of destruction. And during this time... with God's blessing and support, this Torah will provide for us the love of Israel."
After he spoke, sophomore Yehuda Kranzler called up representatives for the four components of the Johns Hopkins Hillel community, each to be honored by the inscription of a letter in the Torah. Dr. Kranzler and Ms. Feldman represented the parents of Johns Hopkins University; Mrs. Terry Meyerhoff-Rubenstein symbolized the friends of Hopkins; Jerome D. Schnydman, '67 embodied the Hopkins graduates; and senior and Hillel/JSA president Elisabeth Baron represented the students at Hopkins.
Finally, it was the benefactor's time to speak. Sekulow said "I have to tell you, in all sincerity, that this is one of the most moving events that I have experienced and for that I have to thank you."
He said he hoped the new Torah would "build an environment that will enable those to identify in a meaningful way with Jewish heritage and Jewish life."
The Torah, he said, was donated in the memory of his parents. "You have honored our family by giving us the opportunity to honor our parents, and for that we thank you. Guard it well, hold it fast. We ask all of you to have faith and manifest that faith in the future of Jewish life."
With that, the Sekulow brothers were honored by the scribe's completion of the remaining two letters in the Torah.
The presentation of the first Torah to the Hopkins Hillel was a significant event for the Jewish community.
"A new Torah for the Johns Hopkins community is more than just a wonderful gift," Menashe said.
"A Torah connects us to the chain of Jewish tradition and communities all the way back to revelation at Mt. Sinai while inspiring us to engage the world through the guidance of our ritual and ethical teaching.
