These
beautiful needlepoint pieces were produced by members of an
Adult Bat Mitzvah Class as their project and gift to the
synagogue. There are ten pictures in all. Beginning from the
upper left hand you can see the Mezuzah, a Bar and Bat Mitzvah
at the Torah, the letter Shin, the beginning of the word
Shalom. On the next panel you can see the Western Wall in
Jerusalem and the tablets of the Covenant held by the lions of
Judah. The third panel displays a tree of life and then a
collage of a Kippah, Tallit and Tephillin. The bottom panel
shows the rainbow, which is the symbol of G-d's covenant to
sustain the world and the dove of peace, the symbol of Ohev
Shalom. The final panel depicts the Huppah, the Jewish marriage canopy with
rabbi, bride and groom and finally, the symbols of Shabbat -
the Sabbath the Neyrot- candles and the Kiddush cup and Hallah
used as part of the Friday evening and Shabbat afternoon
meals.
Silver Kiddush Cup and
Candlesticks.
These pieces are designed
with a Jerusalem motif. They are used as part of the Friday
evening service. With the Shabbat Candles lighted, the
children of the congregation are invited to the Bimah to bless
the candles. The Kiddush cup is used for Kiddush, the
sanctification of the wine on Friday evening and Shabbat
morning. These items are also used for weddings held at Ohev
Shalom. At sundown on Friday afternoon, the Shabbat candles
are lit and then the Kiddush (Sanctification) over the wine is recited as the family
gathers together at the Shabbat table.
Rimonim. These
silver pieces are used to adorn the Torah. Each Rimon is
placed on one of the wooden handles of the Torah. The placing
of these silver pieces indicates the preciousness of the Torah.
The
Hoshen (breastplate)
is a silver piece also placed on the
Torah as an adornment and is an expression of the preciousness
of the Torah. There are many different designs of the
Breastplate. This is a traditional motif.
The Yad is used for the reading of the Torah. This silver
piece is constructed in the form of a hand. Since one does not
traditionally touch the parchment of the Torah, this is used
by the Torah reader to aid in following the reading of the
text of the Torah. While each Torah in the Ark has its own Yad,
it has now become the custom of many Torah readers to have
their own personal Yad which they use when reading from the
Torah.
Our Holocaust Torah was written in Czechoslovakia
at the beginning of
the 19th Century. It was taken by the Germans during World War
II and placed in a warehouse for storage. You
can see the number 5303 inscribed then on the wooden handle of
the Torah. These Torah scrolls were found and redeemed by a member of
the Westminster Synagogue in London, and after extensive
negotiations with the Czech government, these Torah scrolls were
released. Ohev Shalom was fortunate to receive this Torah,
already in excellent condition, some 15 years ago. It is kept
in the Aron Kodesh (Ark) along with the synagogue's other
scrolls. It is used especially at the Bar and Bat Mitzvah
celebrations of grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors.
The parchment and writing
of our Holocaust Torah is close to
200 years old. Since receiving this sacred Torah some 15
years ago, Ohev Shalom has on two occasions conducted
community wide projects to "Kasher" this Torah to make it fit
for public reading.
This
case is a traditional Sephardic Torah case. Inside is a
scroll of all of the Haftarot, portions of the prophets read
during the course of the year. This was given as a gift by
members of the congregation who visited Israel together in
1996.
Besamim
holder. This silver spice
box, expresses a traditional motif. It is used as part of the
Havdalah ceremony along with a Kiddush Cup and a braided "Havdalah
candle." According to tradition, we each are endowed with a
soul during the six days of the regular week. On Shabbat, we
are given the gift of an added soul known in Hebrew as a
Neshamah Yeterah. As the Sabbath ends and that added soul
leaves, we inhale the fragrances of the spices to revive us to
begin the new week.
Two
Shofars are found on
a bookcase in Rabbi Perlstein's Study. The Rabbi brought back both
of these Shofars from Israel. The smaller shofar is the
traditional ram's horn which is used in the Ashkenazic
tradition. The larger Shofar, which has been used more in the
Sephardic tradition, comes from the antelope. Many contemporary
American synagogues, including Ohev Shalom, use the larger Shofar today in appreciation of its special beauty. The Shofar
is blown on Rosh Hashanah to proclaim the sovereignty of G-d
and to arouse us to the work of repentance. It is then blown
again at the conclusion of Yom Kippur to proclaim the end of
this sacred day and the conclusion of the fast.
The Netilat Yadayim
Cup
is used for the ritual washing of the hands
before the meal. As can be seen,
there are two handles on this special cup so that water can be
poured over each hand. Some use this before each meal and
others especially for Shabbat meals. The Netilat Yadayim is
done after the recitation of the Kiddush and before the Motzi
(blessing over the bread). The tradition is that after
the ceremonial hand washing, accompanied by a blessing, all
remain silent until the recitation of Motzi, which begins the
meal.
An
interior view of the text of the new Ohev Shalom Torah.
A few years ago, the synagogue community set out to write a
new Torah. The congregation commissioned a sofer (scribe) to
write this Torah in Israel. Many members of the congregation
dedicated special portions of the Torah and thus associated
their names with with Torah. At the conclusion of the writing
of this Torah, hundreds of members of Ohev Shalom saw the
scribe write a letter of their name into the text of the Torah
and experienced an especially emotional moment. The Torah was
dedicated with a procession down Second Street Pike, led by
the Ohev Shalom Band and joined by some 1,000 celebrants.
This
view of the text of the Ohev Shalom Torah shows two columns
from one of the opening chapters in Deuteronomy. The right
hand column shows part of the Ten Commandments. In the left
hand column, one can see the Shema which is also part of our
prayer service, Hear O Israel, the Lord is our G-d, the
Lord is One!
This
Tree of Life can be found in the lobby of the
synagogue. Many members of the synagogue have dedicated one or
more leaves of this tree to in celebration of a special Simcha in their family. Leaves of this Tree of Life are still
available for dedication in honor of happy family occasions.
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