Texas Temple Beth Emeth Dedicates New Torah

TEXAS - In a ceremony extending millennia into history and freshly interpreted for their dedication last Friday, each member of Sherman's Temple Beth Emeth cradled the Torah, faced the Ark, and welcomed the sacred text to its new home. Rabbi Ana Bonnheim began the dedication with a shortened version of the traditional Jewish Shabbat (Sabbath) ceremony, explaining to the congregation that it would not be a re-enactment of the first Shabbat because they could not begin by opening the Ark -- no Torah was inside the Ark. Temple Beth Emeth's Ark was empty before Friday night's service because vandals had desecrated the temple, trashing and burning the interior and stealing the Torah in 2009. These ceremonies however focused on the joy of being whole as a congregation and having the Torah, which is also called "The Tree of Life," back again in Temple Beth Emeth's Ark.  [Source: Herald Democract]