Montauk's First Torah Scroll Is Completed

Joy and celebration reverberated from East Hampton Town’s easternmost hamlet on Sunday morning, when Chabad of Montauk hosted the completion of the first-ever Torah scroll written for the hamlet’s Jewish community.

Written in Israel over the course of a year by an expert sofer, or scribe, the final letters of the Torah scroll, Judaism’s most sacred object, were written as a large gathering looked on at the seasonal Chabad, which was established in 2018.

A Torah scroll comprises between 62 and 84 sheets of parchment, cured, tanned, scraped and prepared according to exact Torah law specifications. Ancient dictums require a certified Torah scribe, and everything from the character of the scribe to the quality of the parchment and type of ink are taken into account. The slightest error voids the entire 54-portion parchment.

“The Torah is the Bible, the five books of Moses,” Rabbi Aizik Baumgarten, of Chabad of the Hamptons in East Hampton and Chabad of Montauk, told a visitor on Sunday. “This is our mandate from God. Our life is based around the Torah. When the community is able to come together and unite to write a Torah as a community, it’s the biggest show of unity for a community that there is. That’s why it’s such a big celebration.”

The first Torah was written by Moses more than 3,000 years ago, but “for Montauk, it’s the first Torah that’s ever been written,” Baumgarten said. “This is a new, budding community — we’re only here six summers. This is a real stepping stone for the community that’s coming together and building the Jewish community in Montauk with this Torah dedication.”

Baumgarten said that he is in regular contact with around 200 Jews who spend at least part of the summer in Montauk, “but I know there’s a lot more. I know there’s many, many more, and there’s a thirst, there’s a need for a little spirituality. As beautiful as the oasis of Montauk is, we try to infuse a little bit of Judaism and spirituality as well.”

The mitzvah, or commandment, to write a Torah scroll is the last of the 613 Jewish commandments. According to teaching, the mitzvah can be fulfilled by writing a portion, even a single letter, in a new Torah. “Some people have the ability to do it, who could write a whole Torah” said Baumgarten’s father, Rabbi Leibel Baumgarten, “and some at least have a chance to write a letter in the Torah.” After the last letter is written, “only then can it be used and read from on the Sabbath or during the week,” he said.

While the Torah contains exactly 304,805 letters, “the rabbis teach that the spaces in between all of those come out to about 600,000,” the younger Baumgarten said, “and we’re taught that there are about 600,000 Jewish souls. It unites the whole Jewish community when we complete a Torah, because we’re all represented, in a way, within each letter of the Torah.”

As the writing neared completion, Aizik Baumgarten spoke to the gathering. “This Torah is going to be read here for the rest of the summer and for years to come,” he said. The final letter was written by Stan Vashovsky, followed by a blessing.

A more demonstrative celebration followed, as the new Torah was held aloft under a traditional canopy and a procession headed for the street. “We’re going to make the whole streets of Montauk dance and celebrate this beautiful, beautiful occasion,” Baumgarten exclaimed.