New Torah for Omsk Synagogue

The Omsk Synagogue has received a new Torah scroll, written thanks to the joint efforts of Omsk Jews living in different parts of the world! The date for its completion and welcoming the new Torah scroll was scheduled for an auspicious day, Lag B'Omer.
This is the first time that such a grand Jewish celebration took place in the Omsk Choral Synagogue. The guests were welcomed at the entrance by Jewish schoolchildren dressed up as Torahs and Charity boxes (pushkas). These two mitzvoth (commandments) were fulfilled on this day in relation to the new Torah scroll.
Violinist Gennady Khabensky and pianist Yuri Polyakov performed Jewish melodies, as children and adults waited for the ceremony and scribe Mendel Fleischman made the necessary preparations to complete the writing of the scroll.
In addition to community members and guests from as far away as Israel and Belgium, the celebration involved the Minister of Culture of the Omsk Region Vladimir Televnoy, who emphasized that the event is significant for the development of the cultural traditions of the region’s inhabitants. Everyone listened intently to the Chief Cantor of the Great Choral Synagogue in St. Petersburg, Baruch Finkelstein, after which the ceremony began.
“Twenty years ago, thanks to Governor L. Polezhayev, the Torah scrolls belonging to the Omsk Synagogue that had been kept in the city museum were returned to the synagogue. Ten years ago, the arrival of young Rabbi and Mrs. Osher Krichevsky in Omsk gave new life to the community’s development and consolidation,” explained community chairman Gennady Friedman. “Despite the skepticism of many Jews, the young rabbi was wiser than many and the community is gradually changing and there are many projects. It was probably no coincidence that, after a chance meeting with the Chief Rabbi of Omsk, a Belgium-based businessman Uri Ben-Zino gave the Omsk community a Torah, written in his father’s memory, three years ago. They eventually understood that, together, they could have a new Torah written. For 18 months, Mendel Fleischman wrote it in Israel and now we are completing the process, which involved more than 1,000 Omsk Jews! This Torah is proof of that success.”
A concert starred children from the Ohr Avner Chabad Day School, featuring bright costumes, followed by an inspiring performance by the cantor.
“Our great celebration is just beginning! We say that nothing happens by accident. When the synagogue makes a new Torah scroll, the blessings are not only for those who participated in its writing, but also everyone who is present since the Torah gives new light,” explained Rabbi Krichevsky. “G-d has shown us that everything is in our hands. If you live the commandments, the desert can bloom and be transformed into a paradise on earth. In fulfilling our plans, we have proven that, by joining together, we can accomplish a lot. We benefited from G-d's help in completing the project.”

The sponsors of this initiative – Uri Ben-Zino and his sons Ethan and Noam – came on the stage to write the last letter in the scroll, thereby finishing writing the scroll. The father of Rebbetzin Rachel Krichevsky, Shlomo Margolin, who traveled from Israel, raised the new Torah scroll above his head to show the audience and those in attendance began to applaud. Then the rabbi covered the scroll with a velvet cover created in Israel. The front is covered with 12 squares, the number of Jacob’s sons, who became the progenitors of the twelve tribes of Israel, whose names are embroidered in each square. The back is embroidered with the community’s emblem and the text “This Torah scroll was written by Omsk Jews around the world and is dedicated to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, the leader of our generation.”