A Torah scroll was dedicated last week in memory of Erez Levanon, the Gush Etzion resident murdered just over a year ago while meditating in the forest near his home.
Neighbors, friends and others touched by Levanon’s story gathered in his home town of Bat Ayin and walked to the site in the nearby forest where the murder occurred, reciting the afternoon prayer there,
“As we finished the last Kaddish after the Aleinu prayer, Purim music began to play and dancing started to take place around the beautiful new Torah,” said Joshua Halickman, who attended the event. “We jumped and sang all the way back to the yishuv [community] on a road lined with children holding torches and with a new Torah in hand. As we arrived at the Breslov Shul where the Torah would take up residence, we read the last few paragraphs of [the Book of Deuteronomy] from the Torah, lifted it in the air and Aaron Razel and his band began to play as we all danced in joy to the music, knowing that Erez's memory would live on forever and forever.”
Many remained by the spot where Levanon was murdered and recited the Tikkun HaKlali, the set of Psalms prescribed by Rabi Nachman of Breslev to bring about a general spiritual rectification.
The scroll was dedicated at Bat Ayin, where Levanon lived, in part by the Torat Reva Yerushalayim organization.
The cover of the Torah scroll features the famous verse of Psalms that contains Levanon’s name, and which is sung on Friday nights while welcoming the Sabbath: "Tzadik katamar yifrach, k'Erez baLevanon Yisge – The righteous man will flourish like a date palm, like a cedar in Lebanon he will grow tall."
(Photos: Joshua Halickman)
Related:
Photo Feature: Erez Levanon Laid to Rest
The Murder of Erez Levanon
Ambush Victim Buried in Kfar Etzion