Israel
Israel is small in territory while immensely big in history and traditions. Click on the photo bellow to view some images taken during my trips to the country.
Restored to Life
Every Torah scroll in existence contains exactly the same text, written on parchment by scribes trained for years in the art of bringing the words of the teaching to light. Each scroll is sacred, none more so than those scrolls which come to us from the communities decimated by the Shoah, the Holocaust. These scrolls, which bore witness to some of the darkest hours of Jewish and human history, are preserved intact as a symbol of perseverance, hope, and the promise of renewal and continuity. For the Jewish people, a scroll with this history carries great significance.
In May 2011, B’nai Israel Synagogue-Dan Abraham Jewish Cultural Center of Rochester, MN became the caregiver congregation for one of those scrolls. This particular scroll was written about 350 years ago in Kolin, a small town in the present Czech Republic. It served generations of Jewish congregants, and miraculously survived the Holocaust even though its congregation did not.
Our community undertook the restoration of this Torah scroll. Each letter and each stitch was examined, revitalized, and restored by Rabbi Gedaliah Druin of Sofer. His old hands working in perfect concert with the antiquity of the text and the history of the parchment reflect the light that still shines through as scribe, word, and artifact become one.
Click bellow to see more images.
The Old City of Jerusalem, its Stones and its People
Jerusalem’s Old City, every stone has its own history to tell and every person that lives there or visits creates his own story. These images take you from the external walls of the city, to its narrow alleys where people from all backgrounds and religions dwell, to the Western Wall with its stones, spiritual attraction, and symbolism.
