About us

Our Torah scroll

Our congregation has its own kosher Torah scroll. Almost everything around it, the covering, the spindles, the breastplate and the ark, was made for this scroll or brought to it.

A strip of the opening of Genesis in our scroll, lettered by hand, with crowns on the letters — The beginning sheet of our scroll.

Written by hand

Our scroll is the work of a skilled סוֹפֵר Sofer, the scribe who writes a תּוֹרָה Torah scroll by hand. It is roughly two centuries old.

Columns of hand-lettered text in our scroll, crowns on many of the letters, with a silver pointer shaped like a hand beside the Shema — The Shema, written by hand in our scroll.

From a synagogue in Kiev

It came from a synagogue in Kiev, Ukraine, and it carries the legacy of Rabbi Jay’s own family, who lived there two centuries ago.

Rabbi Jay Ledbetter, eyes closed, holding the scroll close in its blue covering embroidered with a crown and a menorah, a prayer shawl over his shoulders — Rabbi Jay with our scroll.

Its covering

The covering was made especially for this scroll.

עֵץ חַיִּים Etz Chaim, the Tree of Life

The two wooden spindles the scroll is wound on were handcrafted for it by a skilled artisan.

The breastplate

The breastplate came from Rabbi Jay’s former congregation in Denver, Colorado.

The ark

The אֲרוֹן קֹדֶשׁ Aron Kodesh, the ark that houses the scroll, was built by two members of this congregation.

The wooden ark on a wooden stand, doors open and lined in red velvet, with the scroll standing inside in its dark blue covering and silver breastplate — The ark, made especially for this scroll.

Back to about us