The news out of Israel, the Middle East and even at focal points worldwide may be ominous—but not at Chabad of Tallahassee.
Following the Rebbe’s decades of leadership on responding to darkness with light, Chabad-Lubavitch of the Panhandle-Tallahassee responded to a devastating fire that destroyed a new center and its Torah scrolls with the dedication of a new Torah scroll—and the formal opening of the temporary new center, two large conjoined trailers, that is currently housing it.
The gala double event was held on Tuesday, October 10—mere two days after bloodthirsty Hamas terrorists had rampaged across southern Israel, slaughtering some 1,400 Jews.
The new Torah scroll, in unflinching and true Chabad style, was completed in a gala ceremony held on the premises of the Florida State Capitol Building—in its historic legislative hall, no less.
The event began with a reception centered on the still-incomplete Torah scroll, laid out on a velvet-bedecked table at which a sofer (Jewish scribe) assisted guests in filling in final letters.
In attendance were a number of public servants, including several Jewish officials in the public and private sectors: Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Commissioner Mark Glass; Alex Kelly, Florida Secretary of Commerce and Acting Chief of Staff to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo; State Sen. Dennis Baxley; and State Sens. Lori Berman, Lauren Book and Tina Polsky. Also participating was Amy Hecht, VP of Student Affairs at Florida State University (FSU).
Standing at the podium where Sunshine State public servants have spoken and made history for decades, Rabbi and Mrs. Schneur and Chanie Oirechman—Chabad’s longtime co-directors—each spoke to the assembled dignitaries and community members, as well as to the historic nature of the moment.
Chanie Oirechman struck a personal note, stating that the Torah scroll Mantel had been dedicated in memory of her own beloved grandparents. “Writing a Torah to connect [to] their heritage and how their parents raised them and our parents raised us,” she said, empowers Chabad “to continue and connect the young generation—our FSU students—and the rest of the Tallahassee Jewish community to the same tradition and the same way that we were raised.”
“The first Torah that was burned was concluded at the Governor’s Mansion over 20 years ago,” Rabbi Oirechman noted. “This Torah completes the circle, and we’re dedicating [it] here in the Capitol Building—sending a message of positivity to the entire State of Florida, the entire Jewish People in our state, that we are going to respond with light.”
Public servants took the podium to express brief but firm words of support for Israel and its war against Hamas-driven terrorism.
Upon completion of the scroll, the new Torah was jubilantly marched to music out the front door and down the front steps of the ornate Capitol Building, from which it was buoyantly escorted by a small crowd to its new home in Chabad’s temporary new building.
There, the festivities continued with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting attended no less than by Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey. The honorable mayor graced the event not just with his distinguished presence but also with a formal proclamation honoring Chabad of Tallahassee for its contributions to the city’s Jewish life.
Richard McCullough, the distinguished President of Florida State University, as well as FSU Student Affairs VP Hecht, followed the mayor with strong and warm words of support for Chabad and for the Jewish community at large.
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