“Rejoice and Be Glad in the Joy of the Torah”

The Torah scroll written specifically at the request of our teacher, Rav Berland shlit"a ○ The ceremony of writing the letters ○ The Torah scroll procession through the neighborhoods of Jerusalem ○ Maariv prayer, singing, and dancing together with the Spinka Rebbe shlit"a in honor of the Torah ○ A magnificent photo gallery

'There were no better days for Israel than the 15th of Av...' says the Mishnah in Taanit. Indeed, how fitting it was when our teacher, Rav Berland shlit"a, instructed that a new Torah scroll be brought into our Beit Midrash, Shuvu Banim, in honor of the souls of the Ten Martyrs and for the elevation of the souls of all the holy ones who were murdered during the terrible years of the Holocaust from 1939–1945. On the night of the 15th of Av, thousands from the Shuvu Banim community merited to fulfill the instruction of our teacher, Rav Berland shlit"a.

And indeed, as requested by our teacher, Rav Berland shlit"a, we merited the Hachnasat Sefer Torah ceremony on the night of the 15th of Av. Before you is the full coverage of the Hachnasat Sefer Torah ceremony:

On the eve of the 15th of Av, the community rabbis entered the inner sanctum with the new Torah scroll in their hands for the ceremony of completing the writing of the letters of the Torah scroll. In the living room of his home, our teacher, the Rav shlit"a, wrote the final letters of 'Before the eyes of all Israel,' after which the community rabbis continued and completed the remaining letters.

At the conclusion of the writing of the letters at the holy residence of our teacher, Rav Berland shlit"a, on HaChoma HaShlishit Street, the procession set out at 7:30 PM in great splendor and glory, with thousands of men, women, and children accompanying the new Torah scroll with singing and dancing. The procession passed through the streets of HaChoma HaShlishit, Shivtei Yisrael, Shomrei Emunim, Meah Shearim, and Ido HaNavi. The entire House of Israel, even those not connected to the community, stopped their activities and came to rejoice in the joy of the Torah, dancing and leaping with vigor before the new Torah scroll being brought into our Beit Midrash.

Only at 9:30 PM did the procession reach the plaza of our Beit Midrash, and after several minutes of joyous dancing in honor of the Torah, our teacher, the Rav shlit"a, came out to the balcony of his home for the Maariv prayer of the night of the 15th of Av at 9:40 PM. He began with the singing of 'Or Zarua L'Tzaddik' (Light is sown for the righteous), as is his holy custom before the Maariv prayer, followed by the Maariv prayer with vitality and a flame of fire. After the Maariv prayer, our teacher, the Rav, began to deliver a lesson on the virtue of the day – the 15th of Av. Before you is a short excerpt from the lesson:

"So, today, the 15th of Av, is the greatest day of the year, greater than Yom Kippur! For on it, the daughters of Israel would go out and dance in the vineyards, just like on Yom Kippur. So how can one dance in the vineyards on Yom Kippur? On Yom Kippur, one must sit on the ground and weep to ask forgiveness for all sins. Rather, the Jerusalem Talmud says, both in the sixth chapter of Yoma and in the ninth chapter of Shabbat, that every woman would hang her red scarf, and immediately it would turn white as soon as she lit the candles; it already turned white. Each one placed a red garment on the window, and already everything became white as snow: 'If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow...'"

And he continued to speak of the virtue of the day, connecting it to additional words of Torah and Aggadah in the words of the living G-d.

After the lesson, which lasted nearly a quarter of an hour with flames of holy fire, they began singing 'Rejoice and be glad in the joy of the Torah...' with dancing in the joy of the Torah together with our teacher, Rav Berland shlit"a, who stood on the balcony of his home holding the new Torah scroll, jumping, dancing, and leaping with all his might in honor of the Torah like a young man and like King David in his time before the Ark of Hashem. And all our people—over a thousand people who arrived from all corners of the country to participate in the Hachnasat Sefer Torah, especially on this great and holy day, the 15th of Av—danced and jumped in sweeping circles in honor of the Torah. The joy filled the heart, and there was no one who could remain indifferent and not dance and jump together with our teacher, the Rav, before the new Torah scroll.

In the middle of the dancing in honor of the Torah, the friend and companion of our teacher, Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, arrived to participate in the Hachnasat Sefer Torah ceremony—the Spinka Rebbe, who came especially from the city of Torah, Bnei Brak, to dance together with our teacher, the Rav shlit"a, in honor of the Torah. For long minutes, the Spinka Rebbe danced together with our teacher, Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, with the great affection of the tzaddikim for one another being clearly evident.

For over an hour of dancing with a flame of fire and endless vitality, we merited to be together with our teacher, the Rav shlit"a. At the conclusion of the dancing, with the singing of 'In you, our teacher, we shall rejoice; in you, our teacher, we shall be glad...', our teacher, Rav Berland shlit"a, concluded the moving Hachnasat Sefer Torah ceremony by reciting 'Yehalelu...' and placing the new Torah scroll into the Holy Ark, followed by a Kaddish of flame and melody, and he entered his holy home at 11:30 PM to the singing of 'In you, our teacher, we shall rejoice; in you, our teacher, we shall be glad.'

"And He distinguished us from those who err and gave us the Torah of truth!"

A rebroadcast of the Maariv prayer for the night of the 15th of Av and the dancing together with our teacher, Rav Berland shlit"a, in honor of the Torah: [YouTube Link]

Before you is a magnificent photo gallery of the Hachnasat Sefer Torah ceremony: