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Invitation to Participate in a Shared Fast to Redeem the Dropped Torah

By Rabbi Michael Berk, Rabbi Arlene Bernstein and Rabbi Jordie Gerson

Dear Friends,

Our tradition teaches that there is no word in Hebrew for perfect. We are not perfect, the world is imperfect, and even the greatest of our matriarchs and patriarchs, we learn, made mistakes. So too do we.

At our Rosh Hashanah late morning service we were shocked when one of the Torah scroll handles rolled off the reader desk of our pulpit and fell to the ground in the sight of the congregation and God. It was a jarring and painful moment; something most of us had never witnessed before.

As Jews the Torah is the foundation of everything for us. It is the spring from which all Jewish life flows. Our love for the Torah – its teachings AND the scrolls – is part of our DNA. We treat the Torah with the tenderness and care we show a baby. Our daily prayer just before the Shema refers to the Torah as an expression of God’s love. When we bring the Torah around the sanctuary before reading from it you extend your prayerbook or the fringes of your tallit (tzitzit) and touch the scroll and lovingly bring it to your lips for a kiss.

Now we want to respond as individuals and as a community to heal from this incident with acts which show our love of Torah.

There is no Jewish law about what to do when a Torah is dropped. And yet it is so hard on our souls to see our beloved Torah fall to the ground that we can’t just pick it up and pretend nothing has happened. So, it has become a tradition when a Torah is dropped to fast from sunup to sundown. The primary responsibility for the fast falls on the person who dropped the Torah and secondarily to those who witnessed it. In some communities the responsibility for fasting can be shared among those who wish to participate. There is also a tradition of giving tzedakah in addition to or in lieu of fasting.

The idea behind the fast is that disrespect has been shown the Torah and we should demonstrate our contrition. In our situation, nobody dropped the Torah and no single person was responsible. But we all felt that we let the Torah down. And many of us want to do something to show our respect and redeem the Torah and show her Beth Israel is a worthy and safe home for her.

So, your temple board and rabbis are calling for a Beth Israel Torah Fast. If you are moved to participate, we invite you to fast on a day in the next few weeks. A fast is especially meaningful on a Monday or Thursday (days Torah is traditionally read in synagogue) but you should not fast on Shabbat, Yom Kippur or during festival days. Please let us know what day you have chosen for your fast.

Not everyone who wants to fast can do so; so we invite anyone who wishes to select one of the Religious School Scholarship Funds in the Fund Designation pull down menu on our DONATION FORM. Those funds are used to make the Torah learning in our religious school available to those who otherwise could not afford it. It is a meaningful way for us respond to the Torah’s falling, by lifting it up for those who wish to learn from it.
For those of you fasting, we have provided original meditations to use at the beginning and end of the fast. Feel free to use these along with the meditation or prayer of your own heart.
Please respond to Leanne Shawler at lshawler@cbisd.org to let us know if you are fasting and on what day. If you are making a donation please let Leanne know that as well.

 


MEDITATION TO BEGIN THE FAST
Written by Rabbi Jordie Gerson

Dear God,

I was shocked and upset when the Torah fell to the ground Rosh Hashanah morning. My heart felt that it dropped with the Torah. And so today I will deprive myself of food in order to commit myself anew to the Torah and demonstrate that our community loves and respects the Torah.

Sometimes, out of our own culpability and weakness, we lose our connection to our sacred memory, the Torah. Sometimes, far too often, we drop not the scroll itself, but its lessons of loving one another, caring for the stranger, and passing Torah on to our children. And so, today, I take it upon myself to redirect my heart, my mind and my body, to your will and your words, by fasting. This is my avodah sh’ba’lev v’haguf, my sacrifice of my heart and my body. May it turn me and return me toward your will and your words, and may my fast and my prayers be found good in your eyes. Amen.

MEDITATION UPON COMPLETING THE FAST
Written by Rabbi Arlene Bernstein

As I am about to prepare myself to end this holy day of fasting, I remind myself that this was a choice I made.   In the spirit of community, I chose to honor the Torah, to remember its sacredness and to help our community redeem itself for our mistake, having witnessed the fall of the Torah on Rosh Hashanah.

I am grateful to be part of a tradition whose reverence for the Torah and all that it teaches is held as precious. May we never allow the principles and beliefs of our Torah to drop from our hearts or from our minds. May this day be a memory of thousands of years of passing the Torah from generation to generation with the understanding that when mistakes are made, they are forgiven when sincere atonement is made.

As I end my fast and prepare to eat, I am grateful for health of body and spirit.

Handwashing: Fill a small pitcher of water, and pour water over each hand.
Baruch Atah A-donai, Elo-heinu Melech Ha’Olam borei minei mezonot.
Blessed are you Adonai our God, Eternal Spirit of the Universe, Who creates sustenance.

 

Comments(3)

  1. Reply
    Gary Hirschfeld says

    Thank you for making it clear now what my obligation to the Torah needs to be. I shall fast in observance.

  2. Reply
    David Kuhn says

    Thank you and I will join the fast

  3. Reply
    Jean Feinstein says

    My response to the accidental dropping of the torah was immediate. I fasted the next day, September 15. While I have just learned that one is not to fast on a holy day, to me, the fast was a meaningful response to honor the torah and its teachings.

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