- By Dan Veaner
- News
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Sunday, July 24 - There was jubilation in the air as the Reform Jewish Congregation Tikun V'or gathered at Ithaca's Unitarian Church last Sunday. The sun was out, and it was not too hot for the planned march from the Church where they have been meeting for the past 14 years to their new synagogue in Lansing. The congregation bought the land at the corner of Triphammer and Burdick Hill roads over four years ago hoping to build their own synagogue there some day.
With no home or Rabbi of its own, prayer leaders Abbe Lyone and Mona Sulzman conducted services at the Unitarian Church until now. "I am pleased and thrilled to be here," said Nancy Goody, the temple founder. "It is great to celebrate with so many people who helped start this temple and then kept it going for so many years. It's just a glorious day to march this Torah up to it's real home."
Co-President Judy Saul explained, "We called our fund raising plan Kehila, which means 'community,' because we knew we'd all have to come together if we were going to do this. Not just our congregation, but our friends and our wider community. And we did it! We raised the money in, really, less than a year. We had a ground breaking ceremony last summer. And then construction got started slowly, and it's been going on all year. And today's the day, so we're really excited."
Past President Gerry Friedman said, "I'm happy that the temple is moving to a beautiful spot in Lansing, and our building is glorious. Lansing has been very cooperative with us. In getting ready they put up the "No Parking" signs, they've given us cones, they've been very accommodating. I'm also happy it's going to be quite close to my house, because I am a Lansing resident."
Abbe Lyons begins the march from the Unitarian Church. Many members of the congregation took a turn carrying the Torah.
The Torah Walk took just over two hours with members of the congregation singing and taking turns carrying the scrolls from the Unitarian Church, up the hill in Ithaca, through Cayuga Heights and Community Corners, then up Triphammer past the malls and coming finally to the new Synagogue. The march was accompanied by the Ithaca Police for the Ithaca leg, then the Cayuga Heights Police and the Tompkins County Sheriff's Department when the marchers entered Lansing. This traditional walk ended as some members of the congregation blew the shofar, the ritual ram's horn that is traditionally blown on the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashana) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). In the Bible, the blast of the shofar was credited with destroying the walls of Jerico. Today it signalled the coming of the Torah to its new home.
The Torah is hand written in Hebrew on a parchment scroll. It contains the first five books of the Old Testament, and is read throughout the year in Jewish services. The entire Torah is read over the course of the year, and then begun again at the beginning of the next year.
Ms. Saul explained, "What we're really going to do is turn the building into our synagogue, so we're making it sacred space. We're doing that by bringing in the Torah, we're going to be blessing, we're hanging the mezuzah on the door... we're doing all these things to make the space our synagogue.
After the Torah was welcomed, the dedication began outside the temple with about 200 people looking on. There was prayer, singing and a blessing for attaching the mezuzah (which means "doorpost"), a small decorative case, nailed to the temple's doorway by Bob Libby, which contains the words of the prayer called "The Shema" along with a companion passage from Deuteronomy. The name of God is written on the back of the scroll, which is rolled up in its case.
Bob Libby prepares to bring the Torah into the synagogue
Then the congregation entered the temple for what Ms. Lyons called "the first and, I hope, only lighting of the Eternal Light. Next the Torah was passed from one past President to another until it was placed in the Ark, the cabinet where Torahs are kept.
Mr. Friedman told us, "It was set up so that all of the sight lines from all of the existing homes aren't hurt. So everybody can still see the lake. That was part of the original specifications, that we weren't going to ruin anybody else's view by having our own nice view. That's why it's located where it is on the lot, and that's why it's turned in the direction it is on the lot."
"This has been a long time coming and a long time aim of ours," he said. "And of course this is just the beginning, this is the first phase. Hopefully we're going to add on classrooms so we can move our religious school here as well." Asked if the congregation planned to hire a Rabbi, he said, "Eventually. Hopefully this will attract more members so we can afford a Rabbi." He added, "Our long term goal certainly is to have everything that a temple should have in this day in age, which includes a Rabbi. It would be nice to have a lot of staff that can organize and take some of the burden off of everybody who has been volunteering for the past 13 years."
The Torah in the Ark for the first time in the new Temple. The Eternal Light has just been lit.
At the end of the ceremony shofar players dispersed to the four corners of the temple for a final joyous blast. Then everyone spilled into the lobby for refreshments. A table was set up where people could write congratulations, which were collected in a box to be pasted into a scrap book. The refreshment tables were adorned by congratulatory flowers, the sun was shining and the view of the lake was spectacular.
Well wishers wrote blessings and congratulations to be placed in a scrap book later.
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