A unique Torah scroll written in part by families who lost loved ones in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre and the subsequent war in Gaza was dedicated on Monday evening at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, where it will be housed.
The scroll, which was created over the past year in memory of the victims of the war, traveled from the various sites of the massacre in southern Israel to the German death camp at Auschwitz over the last 12 months before reaching its final destination at the ancient retaining wall of the Temple Mount on the first anniversary of the massacre, on a day of somber national reflection.
While sofer, or “scribe” Rabbi Moshe Weinstein penned the bulk of the parchment, thousands of people filled in individual letters, including Israeli President Isaac Herzog and first lady Michal Herzog, freed hostages, families of hostages, bereaved families, wounded soldiers, survivors of the massacre, and members of the general public.
The final letters were filled in on Monday evening by Yaakov Argamani, the father of Noa Argamani, who was rescued from Hamas captivity in an IDF military operation in June, before the scroll was used in a ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City.
“We have proven over the past year that when we unite as a society and act out of a sense of mutual responsibility, there is no obstacle that we cannot overcome,” said Israeli entrepreneur and philanthropist Haim Taib, president and founder of the Menomadin Foundation, who initiated the project.
He noted that a Torah scroll is not just a religious document but a spiritual symbol of unity and shared values that have accompanied the people of Israel and Jews around the world from generation to generation.
“In accordance with this spirit, this Torah scroll was written to convey and strengthen the message of the unity of the people of Israel,” Taib said.
