How The Slavita Sefer Torah Got to the Rebbe
Rabbi Sholom Ber Avtzon retells the story of “the Rebbe’s Sefer Torah”
Rabbi Sholom Ber Avtzon retells the story of “the Rebbe’s Sefer Torah”
Author’s Note: For generations, this unique Sefer Torah was referred to as “The Sefer Torah of Mesirus Nefesh,” an obvious reference to the continuous mesirus nefesh shown for over twenty-one years by the Schapiro brothers of the famed Slavita Press. There are, however, varying accounts as to how the Sefer Torah came to be and how the brothers received it. The two main versions of its history are recounted in the text below.
In 1969, a terrible decree hovered over the Jews of Tunisia. It threatened the existence of all Chabad institutions in the country, as well as possible expulsion of the shluchim.
The following story began in Mezhibuzh and continues until this very day; it still isn’t over. * R’ Yosef Yitzchok Lieder, one of the prominent shluchim in Rishon L’Tziyon, along with his wife Chava, tell of miracles that people experienced after buying pages in the “wonder Torah scroll.”
Parshas P’kudei is the culmination of Seifer Shmos. In the Hakhel year of 5748 there was a special siyum seifer Torah that took place in 770 that week. It was a seifer Torah donated by shluchim around the world, in honor of the memory of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka who had just passed away the previous month. During the Farbrengen on Shabbos, the Rebbe spoke of the significance of the Siyum Seifer Torah and connected it to the year of Hakhel.
Last week, the ancient Tzemach Tzedek Synagogue in Tzfas held a joyous celebration after its six precious Torah scrolls, stolen the previous Shabbos, were miraculously discovered in an abandoned house. Together with the happiness of the occasion, this marked an appropriate opportunity to take a look at the amazing history of this treasured shul, its renovation, how it shielded the holy city from Syrian tanks, and a series of special instructions that the Rebbe gave in connection to its reconstruction.