Boruch Duchman, second from left, holds the Torah scroll he donated to the Chabad Jewish Center of South Brunswick as it is paraded down Riva Avenue during a June 28 dedication ceremony. Joining him are, from left, the center’s religious leader, Rabbi Levi Azimov; Rudy Shabayev of East Brunswick; and Rabbi Chaim Azimov, Levi’s brother and leader of the Chabad of North Cyprus.
Photo by Debra Rubin
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July 7, 2009
A blazing hot sun could not put a damper on those who danced and marched as they celebrated the dedication of a new Torah scroll at the Chabad Jewish Center of South Brunswick.
The scroll, written in Israel over the course of almost a year by scribe Rabbi Michael Shvily, was dedicated on June 28. It is the second scroll for the center.
“On Jewish holidays, you’re supposed to take two Torahs out of the ark,” said Rabbi Levi Azimov. “Since we only had one, we had to keep switching from one place to another. This all takes time and, God forbid, anything should happen to our Torah.”
Last Simhat Torah, four families — the Rosenbergs and Brodys of North Brunswick, the Goodmans of South Brunswick, and the Shabayevs of East Brunswick — each made a $1,000 contribution toward a new scroll.
Over the last two months, others have donated chapters and letters; the total cost is estimated at just over $50,000.
The major portion of the money was donated by Boruch and Yonit Duchman of Bal Harbor, Fla., in honor of his mother, Rochel Duchman of Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
The Duchmans are the aunt and uncle of Azimov’s wife, Goldie; Rochel is her grandmother.
“I am very much honored that my children should do this for me,” said Rochel, a native of Russia who was presented with a symbolic stuffed Torah by Goldie Azimov during the dedication ceremony. Cantor Laibel Blesofsky serenaded her with a rendition of My Yiddishe Mama.
Boruch said the Torah scroll was begun on the 19th yahrtzeit of his father, Rabbi Yisroel Halevi Duchman, and completed on his 20th.
“My mother is a true matriarch who has led our family for 20 years,” he said. “You know what they say, ‘Behind every great man is a woman,’ and my mother has always been that woman.”
The new Torah was then paraded under a huppa, which Rabbi Azimov said was symbolic of the marriage between the scroll and the Jewish people, in a procession led by children holding torches and waving flags.
People sang and clapped as men in black suits danced in circles, oblivious to the heat as the procession moved down Riva Avenue and circled back to the center’s driveway, where the synagogue’s first scroll was brought out to greet the new addition.
Both scrolls were taken inside to the sanctuary, where males danced enthusiastically in circles around the bima, taking turns holding the new scroll, reciting blessings, and raising a l’chaim. The new scroll was then placed in the ark.
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