A Torah Falls in Modi'in

During the Simchat Torah dancing last Tuesday at the Zachor Avraham shul in Modi'in, a 12 year old boy stumbled and fell when a Sefer Torah was passed to him. The Torah slipped from his grasp and fell to the floor, causing the congregation to pose a question to Modi'in town rabbi, R' David Lau..."what do we do now?"

R' Lau stated that since the child who dropped the Torah was over the age of 10, this was not intentional, but and accident, and this is a "call for the community to gather and strengthen the holiness of the shul and Torah."

"It is a sign from heaven that the community should examine their actions, because they have surely sinned...and they should improve their actions."

Additionally, R' Lau stated that the men in the shul should fast this coming Thursday, to recite slichot prayers in shul, gather to learn, and accept upon themselves to try not to speak [idle conversation] during prayer and Torah reading."

"It saddens me that this occurred [to the child] of such a serious and responsible family, and it is a difficult feeling to dismiss. Despite this not being the child's fault, Jewish law specifically mandates that the community fast" (source in Hebrew, and accompanying letter from R' Lau, courtesy of Rafi G.)

Not that my community is any better than Modi'in, or that we talk in shul less than they do, but a few years ago, we were saved from a similar mishap -- the amazing Simchat Torah Save of the Day.


Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד