Torah

New home for Torah from Birzh

By: Gilad Stern

Date: 05 August 2015

Sefer Torah donated, with Good Hope

Reading the Torah on Shabbatot and yomtovim is a cornerstone of Jewish life.

But Torah scrolls are not easy to come by. Both Highlands House Shul and

Tikva Tova, the egalitarian orthodox community, have benefitted from the

donation by Ben Rabinowitz of a Sefer Torah. The Rabinowitz family

originally brought a Sefer Torah from Birz, Lithuania to South Africa. The

family were congregants at the Bellville Shul for much of the 20th Century.

The Bellville shul closed, and merged with Durbanville shul. The Sefer

Torah which has now been placed at Highlands House has splendid calligraphy

- a clear script with distinctive character - the sofer (scribe) who created

it must have completed it as a labour of love and commitment.

The Torah cover was made this year at Astra, the Jewish sheltered employment

centre. The design depicts Table Mountain and Cape Town, and bears the

words Tikva Tova, meaning Good Hope, a fitting design for a Torah cover at

the Cape of Good Hope. The Torah cover has s dedication to the memory of

Shirley, Ben's late wife, and to the Rabinowitz forebears who were part of

this community's history.

Whilst the Torah will be housed at Highlands House, on Rosh Hashana and Yom

Kippur it will be used at the services of the egalitarian shul, Tikva Tova,

at the Herzlia High School hall. Details on www.tikvatova.co.za