Etz Chaim Sephardic Congregation set out on foot from Hooverwood Living, walking under a chuppah, singing and dancing as they carried something far more powerful than parchment. The newly completed Torah marked not just an addition to the ark, but a statement of pride, continuity, and resilience for Indianapolis’ Sephardic Jewish community.

 

“This is a Torah and case,” said Alan Cohen, president of Etz Chaim. “There are differences in Sephardic Torahs, dialect and how they write things, but virtually identical in nature.”

The project began with an idea sparked by Saar Alkobi.

 

“The idea [was] to fundraise for a Torah from individual members,” Cohen explained. “It’s a mitzvah to be able to donate a Torah in someone’s memory and honor.”

 

Etz Chaim had done something similar years earlier, and when the idea resurfaced, the response was swift.

 

“It only took one to two months for everyone to step up,” Cohen said.

 

While not every congregant can participate financially, Cohen emphasized that the motivation runs deeper, “Not something everyone can do, it has financial requirements, but

more from the heart of what people want to present and honor for people.” The Torah itself was painstakingly created in Israel.

 

“This Torah took six to eight months to make,” Cohen said. “All hand done and put together, hand written with a parsha and quill.”

 

Once completed, the scroll was broughtto the United States by a member returning from Israel. The traditional Sephardic case was ordered separately and assembled locally.

 

The celebration, known as a Hachnasat Sefer Torah, was both ceremonial and jubilant.

 

“The procession is dedicating the Torah to its first location,” Cohen explained. “It’s more of a celebration. Dancing and singing, it’s a big happy celebration.”

 

Etz Chaim Rabbi Daniel Ashkenazi said the timing of the Torah’s arrival gave the event even greater meaning. “Receiving a new Torah is always a great joy for any congregation,” he said. “But I believe in this case, so close to what is happening in Israel and with Jewish communities worldwide, we were celebrating the coming of a new Torah during a time that we as Jews needed to feel proud as being Jewish.”

 

“We as Jews fight darkness with light and antisemitism with Torah and with more and more Jewish life,” he added. The new Torah has quickly become central to congregational worship.

 

“We use the Torah during Shabbat services and during the daily minyan,” Rabbi Ashkenazi said. “We have been using two Torahs because we do double readings during Shabbat sometimes. We use the new Torah the most.”

 

Etz Chaim currently holds six to eight kosher Torahs, some more than a century old.

 

“Sometimes Torahs can be damaged,” Cohen said. “Once a Torah becomes non-kosher for any reason, you cannot read from it until it has been repaired.” Environmental factors like humidity, age, or compromised parchment can affect a scroll’s integrity, making renewal and preservation essential.

 

“The Torah scrolls tell the story of the community,” Rabbi Ashkenazi reflected. “Every Torah has a story behind it of people who worked very hard to bring the Torah to the congregation.”

 

The dedication was a true communal effort, with donors, volunteers, and guests from across the Jewish community participating.

 

“Other people from other congregations came to attend the event and it unifies the community,” Ashkenazi said.

 

For Etz Chaim, the new Torah represents more than beauty or tradition.

 

“We are very thankful that we can bring a new Torah,” he said, “and we are writing a new milestone in the life of the community in Indianapolis.”

 

The Torah was graciously donated by:

Shai and Adi Abaiov; John and Diane

Abrams; Saar and Shirley Alkobi; Ivan

and Marcy Ekhaus; Phil and Paula

Cohn; Mel and Ilana Mordoh; Shlomo

and Kira Shemesh; and the Shmoel

Family, in memory of Maltzia Maya

Shmoel, z”l.