Or Ami members unroll Torah scroll




FROM THE BEGINNING- Rabbi Paul Kipnes ponts out the Genesis Torah to Eitan Gnisburg as the whole Torah is unrolled on the holy day of Simchat Torah at Congregation Or Ami in Calabasas.

FROM THE BEGINNING- Rabbi Paul Kipnes ponts out the Genesis Torah to Eitan Gnisburg as the whole Torah is unrolled on the holy day of Simchat Torah at Congregation Or Ami in Calabasas.


Jews revere the Torah scroll as one of the greatest gifts given by God to the Jewish people. Written by hand by a trained scribe using a quill, specially prepared ink and parchment derived from a kosher animal (usually a cow), the Torah contains the five books of Moses.

Every year on the holy day of Simchat Torah, which took place earlier this month, Jews read the last lines of Deuteronomy (at the end of the Torah) and roll the scroll all the way back to the beginning where they read the first lines of Genesis. Some synagogues use two scrolls to minimize the time it takes to roll from one end to the other.

At Congregation Or Ami, congregants unrolled the Torah instead. In response to a young student’s question as to how long the scroll was, Rabbi Paul Kipnes and bar/bat mitzvah teacher Diane Townsend unrolled the entire scroll while congregants formed a circle around the room and carefully supported the top and bottom of the sacred scroll with their hands.

By the time the end and the beginning of the scroll met up, it had gone “around the room once and then some,” according to a student.

The synagogue is at 26115 Mureau Road, Ste. B, Calabasas.

To learn more about the synagogue’s approach to Torah learning or Jewish spirituality, call (818) 880-4880 or e-mail Kipnes at rabbipaul@orami.org.

Congregation Or Ami is a Reform synagogue serving the west San Fernando and Conejo valleys.

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