In November 2007, Chabad of Oxnard completed the writing of a very special Sefer Torah that they purchased from us. Known as the Liberty Torah, it was written in honor of the men and women of the U.S. armed forces, past and present.
The writing of the Torah began several months earlier at a public ceremony in Oxnard. A Jewish scribe in Israel then spent most of the following year carefully writing the Torah scroll by hand, leaving only the final letters unfinished so they could be completed together with the community in Oxnard.
The work of writing a Sefer Torah is entrusted to a trained Sofer STaM, a Jewish scribe specially trained in the laws and traditions of writing sacred Jewish texts by hand.
The Liberty Torah Comes Home to Oxnard
Once the handwritten Torah scroll was nearly complete, it was brought back to California. On November 4, 2007, the final letters were written during a public celebration at Chabad of Oxnard, completing the Liberty Torah together with the community.
The celebration included a procession from Channel Islands Harbor to the Chabad of Oxnard Jewish Center. The Torah was dedicated to those who had served, and those who continued to serve, in the United States military.
You can read more about the dedication in Chabad.org's coverage of the Liberty Torah dedication.
The official Chabad of Oxnard Liberty Torah page also preserves the story of the project and the meaning behind its dedication.
A Special Part of Mezuzah Store History
At the time, I wrote that I suspected this might have been the first Torah scroll ever completed in Oxnard. I hadn't researched that claim, so I can't say it with certainty, but I still remember how historic and meaningful the moment felt. I was very proud that we were able to play a part in bringing this Torah to the Chabad of Oxnard community.
There is something especially moving about watching the final letters of a Torah being written. A completed Sefer Torah represents an extraordinary amount of careful, handwritten sacred work, carried out letter by letter according to Jewish law and tradition.
That same tradition of handwritten Jewish sacred texts continues in the work of the sofrim who write our kosher mezuzah scrolls, each written by hand on parchment rather than printed.
For families and communities following Chabad minhag, we also carry Chabad mezuzahs written according to the Alter Rebbe script and Chabad tradition.
Mazel tov to Chabad of Oxnard and everyone who helped bring the Liberty Torah to completion.
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