Vignette
On Saturday mornings, Jewish students preparing to worship
at Homewood must navigate past a laundry room, through the
labyrinthine corridors of the AMR I basement, to a door that
reads simply "0117." Inside the old kosher dining hall,
there are couches, pastel carpets, and an oak cabinet that
holds the university's first Torah.
"It's hard to describe what having our own Torah has
done for our community," says Elisabeth Baron, president of
the Jewish Students
Association/Hillel. "Jewish students of
all affiliations came together when the book was donated.
It's amazing how much symbolism and respect this one object
holds, and that crosses all lines." On the richly
embroidered velvet cover that rests over the Torah scroll,
the tree of life is created in magenta, royal blue, and moss
green. Gold thread outlines the curling roots; beneath them
an inscription reads, "In loving memory of Ida and Jack
Sekulow and Sophie and Carl Weil by their children."
The Torah, or five books of Moses, has been inscribed
by hand on lambskin parchment by an expert scribe. During
this Shabbat service, it is brought out from the curtained
interior of the cabinet and a young man carries it, resting
against his shoulder, around the room. As he passes,
students reach out and touch or kiss the Torah.
At the front of the room, the Torah is placed on a
table so that students may take turns reading sections. Each
reading is an exercise in memorization, proficiency, and
tone. Normally, small notations above and below written
Hebrew characters contain vital information about the vowels
and intonations used to pronounce each word. But the Torah's
text contains none of these cues. Since accuracy is
paramount, two "spotters" stand on either side of the reader
to alert him if he needs to reread a word or phrase
correctly. Should a mistake ever be found in the actual
text, the Torah will immediately be sent to a scribe for
correction.
Some students are visibly tense as they approach the
Torah, but as they deliver the Hebrew words in a melodic
half-song, half-chant, a calm befalls both reader and
listeners. When each section is over, students shift in
their chairs, solemn faces break into smiles, and handshakes
are traded around the scroll.
It takes a year to read the entire Torah. As sections
are completed, they are wound to the right; the new text is
unwound from the left. At the fall holiday Simchat Torah
(The Joy of the Torah), the Torah reading is completed and
immediately begun again. Last fall's Simchat Torah brought
with it the new Torah and bright prospects for the Hopkins
Jewish community: Hopkins Hillel, which coordinates
programming and activities for the school's estimated 400
Jewish students, plans to begin construction on the Smokler
Center for Jewish Life, where students of all faiths can
meet to learn more about Jewish culture. The new center, in
the 3100 block of Charles Street, is part of an ongoing $10
million campaign for Hopkins Hillel.
By Simchat Torah 2003, the students now meeting in the
old kosher dining hall hope to meet in their new home for
worship. Says Rabbi Joe Menashe, the university's first
full-time rabbi, "The Torah is a symbol of growth. As we
grow, we can build on the ideals of history, of social
justice, and of community that the Torah represents."
--JK