Congregation Betenu Torah Fund

celebrating the funding of our Torah repairs

In the wake of the high holidays, pledges and checks have rolled in, bringing the Torah Fund up to the $11,000 level that we targeted to restore our original Torah. It is anticipated that this work can be accomplished in plenty of time for the high holidays, 5760 (1999). Many thanks to all the donors for bringing Betenu to this proud and happy milestone!

also celebrating our new ark

The cherished Torah scrolls of Congregation Betenu got a beautiful home in a new ark this summer. This ark was specially built for the congregation as a unique piece of art, serving both the practical storage needs for the sacred scrolls and the aesthetic needs of an understated, but exquisite focal point for the sanctuary.

about the Torah Fund

To assure the ongoing maintenance of the Torahs housed by this splendid ark, as well as the aquisition of our second Torah last year, we established the Betenu Torah Fund. The fund began when it was recognized that repairs were needed for our first Torah, donated to Betenu by Rabbi Segal in honor of the thirteenth anniversary of the congregation.

The fund is set up to encourage wide participation, with donors sponsoring various sections of the Torah. Children are invited to donate eighteen cents per letter via the religious school. Adults are invited to donate $1.80 per word or $18.00 per verse. Please make checks payable to Betenu Torah Fund and send them attention Treasurer Hannah Belesca. We will track sponsored verses below on this web page. Please consider sponsoring a verse when you have the honor of reading it; this will allow the fund to be plentiful enough to maintain this precious handiwork well into future generations.

Thanks to many wonderful donors, we reached our initial milestone of $7000, which allowed us to locate and purchase a kosher used Torah for $8000 in time for the high holidays, 5758. We celebrated the arrival of our second Torah throughout the high holidays and held a dedication at Simchat Torah.

An anonymous matching donor helped us make much of the progress toward our goals. Now that we have achieved these milestones, the Torah Fund will still collect money for future maintenance and related expenses the board deems appropriate. The total funds raised thus far exceed $11,000.

Sponsored Verses

Genesis

• 1:1-3 Anonymous
• 1:14-19 Douglas Hirsch
• 2:19 Marjorie Satz, in memory of Mollie Segal
• 6:17-19 Anonymous
• 9:1-28 Geoffrey Gross
• 17:1-27 in honor of Abraham Hart Gross

Exodus

• 24:7 The confirmation class of 1997

Leviticus

• 12:1 Elaine & Robert Schwartz, in honor of their 16th anniversary

Numbers

• 6:26 Mark Urick, in memory of his mother Isabel Blake
• 22-24 in memory of Diantha Perry Gross

Deuteronomy

• 6:4-9 Geoffrey Gross
• 30:1-3 anonymous, in memory of Merrill Gross, father of Geoffrey Gross
• 32:1-3 Barbara Bailey, in honor of the Bat Mitzvah of Elyssa

Other donations

• Elaine Schwartz, in memory of Elinor Iris Fierman
• The religious school class of Mrs. Levine
• Esther Elmakiss, in memory of Baruch & Martha Ellin
• Sara and Dan Murphy, in honor of Gabriel Keegan Murphy
• Anonymous, in memory of Rita MacAuslan's mother
• Paul Noyovitz & Paula Silver, in memory of Mollie Segal
• Paul Noyovitz & Paula Silver, in memory of Evelyn Noyovitz
• Hannah Belesca, in memory of Mollie Segal
• Stefan Silverston
• Morris Weisberg, blessing the health of Ben Benjamin and Ray Landman
• Barbara Rottenburg, in honor of the Bat Mitzvah of Tovah Burstein
• Barbara Rottenburg, celebrating the anniversary of her Bat Mitzvah
• Joel and Elaine Silverberg
• Burstein Family, in honor of the Bar Mitzvah of Ben Blotcky
• Burstein Family, celebrating High Holiday aliyot of Chaim and Sanders
• Carol and Harry Applebaum