“Nothing is more central to Netivot Shalom than the Torah—reading it, teaching it, studying it, learning it, and living it.” (Celia Concus, 1st Board President, from the 1990 fundraising campaign to purchase our first Torah.)
Just as the Torah links us with the story of the Jewish people, the 6 sifrei Torah we have at Netivot Shalom (2 in the main sanctuary and 4 in the library) connect us not only with our shul’s story, but also with older Jewish communities in Ukraine, Poland, England, Russia, Israel, and even Connecticut. Every time we have an aliyah, read from the Torah, open the Ark, touch a Torah in a Torah procession, or dance with one on Simchat Torah, we each become part of that story. So, in the beginning…
When Netivot Shalom first formed in 1989, having a Torah was discussed. Founding member Helen Schneider z”l, said in an interview in 2005 that they didn’t even think about a home, but they knew they would borrow or buy a Torah. We borrowed our first Torah from Rabbi Jacob Milgrom z”l (see the “Of Blessed Memory” section above). At some point before 1990, we returned his Torah and borrowed two others, from Sinai Memorial Chapel and Congregation B’nai Shalom in Walnut Creek. B’nai Shalom’s was returned long ago; Sinai’s has remained on indefinite loan. A scribe who evaluated it in 2018 described the writing as “very beautiful,” its origin as Poland, and its age approximately 125 years.
Board and Ritual Committee meeting notes for 1989-1990 reflect discussions about the need to buy our own Torah and fundraise in a way that was in keeping with our egalitarian values. Early members June and Bob Safran hosted a meeting at their home in August of 1990 to discuss a proposal to promote the Torah Fund, which then contained only $500. The flyer advertising the meeting flatly stated, “At the present rate of donations to this fund, it will take a long time to acquire a Torah. A good quality Torah costs $18,000-25,000. An alternative to raising funds is to find a benefactor. No such angel is in sight.” Spurred into action, the Board approved a plan to raise $30,000 to acquire two Torahs. The Torah Fund Committee (chaired by Marissa Moss) launched a fundraising campaign in the fall of 1990 with the initial mailing proclaiming, “We want our first Torah to be a gift from all of us to the Netivot Shalom of the future.” Donations could be linked with a particular parashah and donors (including “anonymous”) of any amount would be listed in an official “Honor Book” (now displayed on a wall in the main office). Donating was promoted as a way to “link your name forever to the Torah scroll that will always be our most precious possession.”
But before the purchase of our first Torah in 1990, congregant Pat Hellman’s father, David Hellman, generously offered to loan Netivot Shalom his beautiful Torah and that Torah came with a story. As Pat tells it, her father was in a Jewish bookstore in LA when a group arrived to purchase a Torah that they had asked the store owner to acquire for them. Unhappy with the price, they walked out. Pat says, “Our dad felt it was disrespectful to the Torah and purchased it on the spot” with the intention of loaning it to Jewish institutions that needed it. One day just after a local yeshiva had returned the Torah, CNS first President Celia Concus mentioned to the Hellmans our need for a Torah and they offered to loan theirs. The Hellman family has not only generously extended their loan all these years, but also arranged for it (and other Netivot Torahs) to be repaired 4 times. In 2014, the wooden handles (with the names of Pat’s parents in Hebrew and English on metal plates) were replaced. Based on the age estimated by a scribe doing repairs in 2018, this Torah is now about 55 years old. One scribe thought it was originally from Romania or Poland, and another thought it was from Israel.
By December 1990, just 3 months after the launch of the Torah Fund campaign, 200 people had donated almost $10,000 and R’ Stuart Kelman, z”l, oversaw the purchase of our first Torah from a rabbi in LA. It also came with a story. A family named Abramov had owned it in Kiev, Ukraine (then part of the USSR), where they kept it hidden. One of the sons, Uri Abramov, brought it with him when he made aliyah to Israel in early 1990. Having decided to sell it, he approached a rabbi scribe in Israel who then contacted a sofer in LA, R’ Shimon Kraft, who acquired and repaired it. When R’ Kelman asked R’ Kraft to send him a photocopy of the script, he sent an entire piece of the parchment, the one that contained the Ten Commandments. As R’ Kelman wrote in the dedication program, “What a wonderful beginning to see this part of what was to become our Torah!” This Torah is now almost 100 years old.
A special dedication ceremony took place on January 13, 1991. Led by a klezmer clarinetist, 200 congregants carried the Hellman Torah and the Abramov Torah under a chuppah from Live Oak Park to the Berkeley Richmond JCC with singing and dancing. After what the Northern California Jewish Bulletin called “a wild hora inside the JCC,” the ceremony got underway. Congregants unrolled and admired the scroll, R’ Stuart Kelman demonstrated the art of a Torah scribe (sofer), and members read Torah verses and psalms before placing the Torahs in the aron hakodesh recently hand crafted by congregant Bud Simon, z”l, (see the “Of Blessed Memory” section above), and enjoying a celebratory brunch.
Within 2 years, the Torah fund had grown enough to purchase a second Torah. It too came with a story. Originally written before World War II in Poland, it was brought to England and used for many years by the Vladover (or Wlodawa) Synagogue, established in 1901 by Jewish immigrants from Poland in the heart of London’s East End. When it closed in 1987, R’ Shmuel Miller, a scribe in LA, acquired it and used it in his small community there. R’ Irvin Unger of Historicana, a bookstore in Burlingame specializing in historic Judaica, travelled to LA in January, 1993 to purchase the Torah on our behalf. He described it in a letter to then Board President George Gidal, z”l, as having a “weight quite suitable for a younger or older person to carry” and relayed that the price would be “$8500 plus 8.25 % sales tax ($701.25).”
This Torah was dedicated in June of 1993 in a ceremony that involved repairs to the Torah by R’ Kelman, “rejoicing with the Torah” (in the words from the event program) in a parade from Live Oak Park to the JCC, and then reading from it and placing it in the Ark. It concluded with singing Al Sh’losha D’varim: “The world stands on three things: on the Torah, on divine service, and on deeds of lovingkindness.”
It wasn’t until at least 2000 that we purchased a third Torah, bringing the total number of Torahs in use at Netivot Shalom to 5. R’ Kelman wanted to have a smaller Torah to bring on retreats and other events outside of the JCC and our Berkeley Way site. We don’t know a lot about this Torah other than that the klaf (parchment) is only 12 inches in height, but the scribe who evaluated our Torahs in 2018 thought it was from Russia and was at that time over 100 years old.
In 2005, we celebrated a Hanukat Habayit for our new building with a 25-hour Shabbat that began with an exuberant Torah parade from our offices on Berkeley Way to 1316 University. David Mostardi played the accordion, Sheldon Brown played the clarinet, and congregants carried balloons and our Torahs under a chuppah to the front courtyard where they were passed around as if it were Simchat Torah. Inside there was dancing to klezmer music, a kabbalat Shabbat service, and dinner. Our Torahs were at last in their new “home,” although for the time being in their old arks.
In 2010, under the guidance of Robin Braverman, Netivot Shalom participated in the Women of the Wall Solidarity Photography Project, a campaign to support egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall launched after Israeli authorities arrested a woman for carrying a Torah at the wall. Women all over the world were photographed carrying a Torah and the photographs were sent with protest letters to the Israeli government. Many Netivot women participated and Israeli officials received photographs of them holding our Torahs.
This past April, on the first day of Shavuot, we dedicated our 6th Torah. It was very special for R’ Kelman to welcome a Torah from his childhood shul in Bridgeport, CT into the shul that he had been so instrumental in guiding over the last 36 years. When he heard that Rodeph Shalom, which once had 750 households, was downsizing into a smaller space, he approached the leadership about acquiring a Torah and they offered to send one. As the shul administrator Sue Spivack wrote, “Rodeph Sholom was very pleased and proud to make this gift and bring joy to a distinguished son of our congregation; indeed, a l’dor v’dor moment.” The Torah was bubble-wrapped, crated, and shipped from Bridgeport, arriving in time for its dedication on Shavuot when R’ Kelman thanked the staff and clergy of Rodeph Shalom for providing him with an outstanding foundation. He said, “Rodeph Shalom is where I grew up; indeed, it was my second home.”
The Bridgeport Torah had been owned by Ein Jabob (Ayn Yacob), an Orthodox synagogue located since 1918 in a different part of Bridgeport. When it disbanded in 1962, Rodeph Shalom acquired it and Mrs. Morris Nowitz dedicated it on June 6, 1964 in memory of her late husband. The notice of this event was posted by R’ Kelman’s mother, executive director of Rodeph Shalom at that time. The Torah arrived at Netivot Shalom with two mantles, a white one for the High Holidays and a red one. The white one was dedicated to the memory of Peter Zeidel, a close friend of R’ Kelman’s parents. CNS congregant and textile artist Nancy Katz, together with the Netivot quilting group (Diane Bernbaum, Carol Dorf, Karen Friedman, Claire Sherman and Vicki Sommer) offered to create a new mantle, giving us, in R’ Kelman’s words, “yet another occasion to celebrate.” Full of gratitude, R’ Kelman welcomed this new addition to, in the words of Sue Spivack, “the Netivot Torah family” and proclaimed it a Shehehiyanu moment.
Each Torah is unique and carries a unique history. Sofrim in many different countries wrote each individual letter in each of the 6 Torah scrolls at Netivot Shalom, and many sofrim, including our beloved R’ Kelman, left their mark on our scrolls when they repaired them.
Thank you, Eugene Berg, for the idea to photograph the line containing the Shema in each of our Torahs to highlight the uniqueness of each one.
And now, after journeys across the world and around our country, all 6 of our sifrei Torah are part of the story of Netivot Shalom. Since Torahs need to be used regularly to prevent deterioration and to expose letters that are pasul (not kosher) and need to be fixed, ours are in regular rotation so you may not know which Torah you are seeing on the bimah, but you know it has a story.
Many thanks to the following congregants for answering my many emails and sharing their knowledge and memories: Diane Bernbaum, Art Braufman, Pat Hellman, Eugene Berg, Robin Braverman, Nancy Facher, Hannah Dressner, David Mostardi, Ken Schnur, Debby Graudenz, Glenn Massarano, Mel Sibony, Joanna Weinberg, Glenn Massarano, and Claire Sherman. I apologize if I inadvertently left anyone out.