Hundreds of residents and guests gathered in Brooklyn’s Bergen Beach neighborhood this past Sunday for an uplifting event: the dedication of two new Torah scrolls to the newly established synagogue.
The event was organized by Rabbi Menachem Mendel and Sterny Weissberg, directors of Chabad of Bergen Beach.
Each of the two Torah scrolls carried with it a story of memory and eternity. The first scroll was generously donated by Mike and Natalie Arje, in loving memory of Mike’s parents—Tzvi ben Yaakov and Leah bat Rachel Arje, of blessed memory—and in memory of Ruth bat Asher Peres.
The second Torah was dedicated by Nina Steigelfest, Eli and Jill Steigelfest, Suzy and Jason Arlick, and Michelle and Leeor Solomon, in memory of their father and husband Yeshayahu ben Eliezer HaLevi Steigelfest, of blessed memory.
Among the many participants were prominent rabbis and communal leaders who came to honor the occasion: Rabbi Avrohom Holtzberg, Chabad Shliach and director of Chabad of Georgetown; Rabbi Yirmiy Levi, Rabbi of the Chazon Ovadia synagogue in Mill Basin; Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Holtzberg, Rosh Kollel of Tiferes Zekeinim in Crown Heights; and Rabbi Mordechai Weisberg, director of the Jewish Community of Moscow, Russia.
A highlight of the evening was the performance by international Jewish singer Gad Elbaz, whose powerful voice filled the large tent and moved the crowd to tears and dance.
Special recognition was given to Ari Simkin, owner of the event site and director of the Power Rental Yards company, who generously contributed his resources and expertise behind the scenes to ensure the event’s success.
The central message of the evening rang loud and clear: just as a Torah scroll is incomplete if even one letter is missing, so too the Jewish People are incomplete when even one Jew is absent. It was a call for prayer—for the safe return of the hostages, for light to overcome darkness, and for all fallen souls to be brought to Jewish burial without delay.
Rabbi Mendy Weissberg excitedly shared with the audience about the blessing he received from the Rebbe after he offered a prayer at the Holy Ohel that G-d should help and provide a Torah scroll for the Chabad house that opened a short time ago, and in fact,he received a double blessing. He received not one Torah but two Torah scrolls by relatives of the families.
Rabbi Mendy linked the two Torah scrolls – because the two Torah scrolls carried special symbolism: one beginning with “Bereishit” (Genesis), and the other concluding with “Le’einei kol Yisrael” (“in the sight of all Israel”). The first and last letters—Bet and Lamed—form the Hebrew word “Lev”: heart. And indeed, the heart was the essence of the entire evening—a heartfelt offering of love, faith, and solidarity to the entire Jewish People, in Israel and throughout the world.
The Bergen Beach community sent forth its voice, its heart, and its Torah—not as a mere symbolic gesture, but as an act of mission and purpose. Because when the Jewish heart beats with faith and unity—there is nothing in the world that can stand in its way.
