It seems this is the first time this has been done (that is known, at least), though the rabbah (female rabbi) said that they do this every year and she has seen this done by orthodox communities abroad (clearly she is lying about that).
Regardless, I express my protest for this shameful treatment of the Torah scroll and my sorrow that this is what has happened.
I don't think making a law against this, as has been suggested by the Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs, has any purpose, as they would just find another way to shock the public with a different act next time. One cannot outlaw every scenario, as they will always be able to come up with something else.
I am just going to leave it at this. an expression of sorrow and protest.
sources: Srugim and Kipa
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What I don't understand is - don't sifrei Torah cost tens of thousands of dollars? Besides the bizayon aspect, why would they take such a monetarily valuable object and subject it to potential destruction like that?
ReplyDeleteGoogle tells me that this is quite common in Reform congregations, even in Israel. You'll see plenty of pictures of it via an image search.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, from teh web site of Yozma oin Modi'in:
Kehillat YOZMA combines the traditional with an "untraditional" twist. YOZMA's tashlich service at Rosh HaShana is held on the beach and includes shofar-blowing as well as the releasing of hand-written wishes for the future into the skies on home-made kites. Simchat Torah celebration includes unrolling the entire Torah scroll into the lovingly supportive hands of community members. Rosh Chodesh celebrations incorporate special programming for women.
I would like to express my sorrow and protest, ONCE AGAIN, that you give these un-Jews validation by actually using their titles without putting them in quotation marks, at the very least. There are no female rabbis. (I'll address the defacto ones in the English speaking "Litvak" community in a future post.) There are no "rabboth."
ReplyDeleteThe reform temple here has been doing something similar for a long time. They don't dance with it, but they do unroll it all around a large room, with everyone holding on to it. I think the dancing is only prevented by the potential property/monetary consequences. I certainly share your dismay and protest (and have said so here as recently as the past yom tov.)
ReplyDeleteIt seems this reform temple, like all Israeli reform temple s, has a membership problem : the picture shows a minimal crowd.
ReplyDeleteWhen she said she saw this in an Orthodox synagogue, maybe she meant the traditional Simchat Torah hagba. I think I once hit 20 amudot
ReplyDeleteWe do something similar in our egalitarian shul. However: the klaf is not taken off the holders, no one touches the klaf directly, the klaf is help upright, and the whole occasion is very somber, not taken lightly.
ReplyDelete