Designer Creates Rare Paroches for Aron Kodesh in Lubavitch Town

By COLlive reporter

How do you create a paroches for an Aron Kodesh in a historic shul that has been reconstructed from the ground up?

David Roytman, owner and designer of Luxury Judaica in New York, faced this dilemma when he was asked to construct a paroches for the rebuilt Akeda shul in the Russian town of Lubavitch.

The shul stands alongside the old Jewish cemetery where the 3rd and 4rd Rebbes of Chabad-Lubavitch, the Tzemach Tzedek and the Rebbe Maharash are interred.

The shul received its unique name when the 5th Rebbe, the Rebbe Rashab brought his 15-year-old son, the future Rebbe Rayatz, to the shul for a symbolic offering to Hashem.

“I am bringing my son today for an Akeda,” the Rebbe Rashab said with the Aron Kodesh open, alluding to the Akeda when Avrohom Avinu placed his son Yitzchok Avinu on an actual alter as told in the Torah.

“In the matter of the Akeda, there is binding and being bound,” the Rebbe Rashab continued. “Avrohom Avinu bound his son Yitzchok so that there won’t be any wrong (p’sul), Heaven forbid. I wish that this Akeda shall be as desired. I am making a covenant with you. From today, I will hand over to you the work of public affairs in material and spiritual matters.”

From that day on, the shul was called by Chassidim the Akeda Shul where many davened during the week, Shabbos and Yomim Tovim. During the first World War, the Rebbe Rashab and chassidim relocated from Lubavitch. Non-Jewish locals destroyed and burned down the shul and the Ohel.

In recent years, Rabbi Gavriel Gordon has been working to restore historic Jewish locations in the town and discovered evidence of the shul’s existence.

“We discovered inside a mound of dirt the sooty wooden floor of the shul and remnants of lamps, nails and hinges,” he said.

The shul has now been fully rebuilt for the use of visitors to the town. Part of the new floor was made of glass to show the original flooring under it.

To create an appropriate Paroches for its Aron Kodesh, Rabbi Gordon turned to Roytman who was raised in Odessa, Ukraine, and lived in Israel before settling in New York where he creates luxury Judaica items.

For the design, Roytman drew inspiration from the Shaar Blatt – the illustrated frame that each Chabad Rebbe has for the seforim they wrote and published.

Roytman combined the Shaar Blatt of the Tzemach Tzedek and the one belonging to the Rebbe Maharash. The Paroches itself is made of skin of a kosher cow with an acrylic paint on it, which gives a special and rich look.

Roytman said this combination was a first and that it honored the special location of the shul near the Ohel of both Rebbes.

“This is a statement of respect for the rebbes who stood as pillars in difficult times for the Jewish people,” Roytman says.

Rabbi Gordon thanked New York philanthropist Yossi Popack, as well as Rabbi Moshe Rubin of Geder Avos and Mendel Levin of Crown Heights for their support.