Toby & Leon Cooperman Sinai Residences of Boca Raton, a continuing care retirement community on the campus of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County held a special ceremony on September 12, 2022, to dedicate a Torah commissioned and donated by residents Sam and Bilha Ron. Sam Ron is also a Holocaust Survivor and an active participant in Federation’s March of the Living program. The Torah, handwritten by a Sofer, a specially trained scribe, was placed in an ark at Sinai Residences.

“Sam told me that every single Torah in his hometown was destroyed during the Holocaust. Devasted by this memory, he felt an overwhelming desire to contribute a Torah to the Sinai Residences community in honor of those that were destroyed,” said Rachel Blumberg, Executive Director of Sinai Residences. “While they are unable to change the past, Sam and Bilha have found a way to heal by gifting Sinai Residences something that was painfully stolen from their own community over 77 years ago.”

From Generation to Generation

Inscribed with the words L’Dor V’Dor which translates to “from generation-to-generation,” the ark and Torah were dedicated and celebrated by the Sinai Residences community, the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County, and several generations of the Ron family, among others. The ceremony, which ended with a procession carrying the Torah to the ark, was held in the Sinai Residences’ Symphony Hall. It featured remarks by Matthew Levin, President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County; Wesley Finch, Vice Chair of Federation and President, Federation CCRC Development, LLC; Rabbi Josh Broide, Director of the Deborah & Larry D. Silver Center for Jewish Engagement at the JFSPBC; and Rabbi Robert Silvers, Rabbi Emeritus for Congregation B’nai Israel.

A gift that keeps on giving

“Welcoming a new Torah to any community is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Blumberg added. “As we celebrate this momentous occasion with joyous music, I think of Rabbi Josh Broide’s efforts like a musical conductor who coordinates a beautiful, harmonious masterpiece. Thanks to the generosity of the Ron Family, our residents and their families will be able to gather just a few steps from their apartments to worship and pray as one community. Each time we open the ark and the Torah, facing east towards Jerusalem, we shall be reminded of this gift that will keep on giving.”

The Sofer, Rabbi Shimon Yisraeli, was also at the ceremony and wrote the final letters in the scroll in honor of those who are closest to the Ron family and Sinai Residences.