Feature Story and Photos by Larry H. Oskin, South Lake Tablet
Rabbi Moshe Dubinksy of the South Lake Chabad welcomed the community to a Grand Torah Welcoming Ceremony. Rabbis came to the South Lake Community from Altamonte Springs, Space Coast, Maitland, South Orlando, UCF and the Miami area, as well as the South Lake Jewish community and community leaders to celebrate with joyous songs, video presentations, prayers, dancing and a festive meal. Their new Torah came from a village in Israel called Kfar Chabad, located just southwest of Tel Aviv, where a special scribe spent over a year and a half writing this new Torah one Hebrew letter and word at a time. The Torah is a miraculous work of art.
Torah Welcoming Ceremony: Rabbi Moshe Dubinksy welcomed the group with the help of Cindy Wood. A very special welcome and ‘Mazel Tov’ was shared with Rabbi Druin and his wife Aviva who partnered with Chabad South Lake to donate this new Torah.
Cindy Wood shared, “The Torah scroll is handwritten with 304,805 letters all of which must be precisely duplicated by a trained scribe, before shipment to America. After the last few words were ceremoniously written by Rabbi Druin in their Miami home, the ink was left to dry and the final parchment panels were sewn together, wrapped in its mantle with other adornments before it was brought to Clermont for this dedication ceremony.
Clermont Torah Day Proclamation: Clermont Mayor Tim Murry shared a special presentation and proclamation making July 10, 2022 as ‘Clermont Torah Day’. He shared his welcoming thoughts, noting how the Clermont community has been celebrating diversity with the Jewish community and all of South Lake for the past few years. He invited Groveland Mayor Evelyn Wilson to join him on stage for the proclamation presentation.
New Chabad Torah: Rabbi Dubinksy shared, “Mazel Tov & L’Chaim! Welcome each and every one of you to the dedication of the world’s newest Torah. Welcome to our families and our guests who came from far and near to celebrate this momentous occasion. Today we celebrate each of you as torchbearers of the world’s brightest and most resilient light — the Torah. The song of the Torah is the song of our souls. Our deepest, most authentic part of ourselves, our N’Shama which is our piece of G-d inside of us, sings this song to teach us kindness, generosity, spirituality, connection and faith. It’s the song that our ancestors sung when they crossed the sea, the song they sung by Mount Sinai and the song they sung when they entered Israel. It is the same song that Yosef sang in an Egyptian jail, Esther sang in the Persian palace, Devorah sung under her olive tree and it is the song your ancestors sung-through inquisitions, pogroms, gulags and concentration camps. Today, it is the song sung by children, parents and the elderly. How do we sing this song?
Each time we light a Shabbat Candle, each time we don Tefillin, each time we show love for another, each time we add a Mezuzah to our home, eat a bite of Kosher food, learn some Torah, buy a Jewish book, give charity Tzedakah or go to the Mikvah, we sing our souls song. As our community flourishes, we pray, hope and rededicate ourselves with Hashem’s help. I want to thank the donor of this beautiful Torah; Rabbi Chaim & Aviva Druin. Thank you for your love, care and commitment to support our South Lake Jewish community, May Hashem shower you with abundance for a long life of nachas, health, happiness, prosperity, peace and true Joy. Thank you!”
Torah Dedication: Rabbi Dubinksy presented the Druins with a very special plaque and honor for their extremely generous and charitable mitzvah, before everyone was invited to greet and celebrate the new Torah was a parade led by Rabbi Druin and Rabbi Dubinsky, before they handed the Torah to various Jewish community members to hold with everyone singing, dancing and sharing joy with each other outdoors under a Chuppah canopy, before dancing and singing indoors with the Hakafos, followed by a festive meal.
“Holding the community Torah literally and figuratively in our hands”, Rabbi Dubinksy added, “With this new Torah, our community will now be able to begin a weekly Minyan worship service. Amen!” Dubinksy also proudly noted, “The Torah is our lifeline. It is the soul of the Jewish people. Having a Torah of our own for our Jewish community is truly a step forward for Jewish life to prosper In the Lake County area. We hope to have our very own permanent location very soon. Chabad is here to serve every Jew in Lake County. So if there are a few thousand Jews in the area, that’s how many Jews belong to the Jewish community. We will be having the Jewish High Holiday Services coming up at the end of September. As of now, they will be in the Home2 Suites on Highway 50 in Clermont.
Rabbi Chaim Druin shared his own presentation, story and celebratory remarks. He complemented Rabbi Dubinsky and the South Lake Jewish community for their dreams, confidence, spirit, energy and a captivating passion for Jewish life. Aviva and Rabbi Chaim Druin dedicated this Torah in honor of their parents – Gedalyah and Zehavah Druin as well as Tzvi Gedaalyah and Miriam Minaker. Each Torah celebration attendee was given a ceremonial piece of the Torah mantel cover material as a keepsake, to help bring great blessings of love, joy and light to each home.
Chabad of South Lake County is a non-profit organization serving the needs of the Jewish Community at large. They offer Jewish education, outreach, worship services, special holiday events and social service programming. For more information, contact Rabbi Moshe Dubinsky, Chabad of South Lake at 352-717-4119, Email: Info@JewishSL.com, visit JewishSL.com and https://www.facebook.com/Jewishsouthlake/
