A Torah scroll written by the families of victims of the October 7 massacre and families of fallen soldiers of the Swords of Iron War was placed in the Holy Ark of the Western Wall on Monday evening, on the first anniversary of the massacre.
During the evening, the final letters of the special Torah scroll were written by Yaakov Argamani, the father of Noa Argamani who was rescued from Hamas captivity during an IDF operation, wounded IDF soldiers injured during the Israel-Hamas war, and survivors of the Nova Music Festival, among others.
After the final letters were written, a special Hakafot ceremony was held with the special Torah scroll at the Western Wall Plaza, with the participation of Tamir Idan, Head of the Sdot Negev Regional Council, representing the Gaza envelope communities; the family of Captain Omer Neutra, a tank commander captured in Gaza; Dr. Yechiel Leiter, father of the late Maj. (res.) Moshe Yedidyah Leiter, who fell in combat in Gaza; Israel Ben Shitrit, an IDF soldier wounded in battle, and senior leadership of United Hatzalah and ZAKA, among others.
The Torah scroll was initiated by Haim Taib, President and Founder of the Menomadin Foundation.
The special Torah scroll was then entrusted to the Western Wall Heritage Foundation and placed in the Holy Ark during a mass Selichot ceremony. The scroll was written over the past year in the memory of the victims and hostages of October 7th and the fallen soldiers of the Swords of Iron War.
The writing of the Torah scroll began just days after the horrific events of October 7th, dedicated to the memory of the murdered and fallen. Throughout the year, the scroll traveled to the sites of the massacre including the Nova Festival site and Gaza envelope communities. It also traveled to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland with the October 7th delegation, which led the 2024 International March of the Living. The Torah scroll was carried through the “gates of hell” in Auschwitz as a symbol of Jewish resilience and strength in the face of tragedy.
Thousands of people signed and wrote letters in the scroll, including the President of the State of Israel Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog, returned hostages, families of hostages, bereaved families, wounded soldiers organized by the Zahal Disabled Veterans Organization, Nova survivors, and the general Israeli public.
The event marking the completion of the writing of the Torah scroll and its placement in the Holy Ark on Monday evening was led by the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi David Yosef, Chief Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites of Israel, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, and the President and Founder of the Menomadin Foundation, Haim Taib.
The emotional event was broadcasted live in Israel and around the world, as a symbol of unity for the people of Israel and the Jews of the Diaspora. The event was attended by tens of thousands of worshippers from all sectors of Israeli society and viewed live by thousands more.
Taib said, "Since that bloody Sabbath, I made dozens of visits to the south and the north to meet the people of Israel and share in their experience. I saw destruction and despair transform into resilience and strength. I met ordinary civilians who became heroes. In the midst of their sorrow, they found the strength to help their neighbors, embrace the residents of Israel’s border communities, and offer light and hope to the evacuees, as everything crumbled around them. We have proven over the past year that when we unite as a society and act out of a sense of mutual responsibility, there is no obstacle that we cannot overcome. It is precisely from this spirit, from this sense of mutual responsibility, that the idea to write this Torah scroll was born. A Torah scroll is not just a religious document- it is a symbol of unity and shared values that have accompanied the people of Israel and Jews around the world from generation to generation. One of the most well-known phrases from the Torah scroll dedication ceremony is: 'The Torah was commanded to us by Moses, an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.' This verse sheds light on the fact that the Torah was given to the people of Israel as one united community, and that the Jewish heritage is shared by all of us. In accordance with this spirit, this Torah scroll was written to convey and strengthen the message of the unity of the people of Israel."
Rabbi Rabinowitz added, “A Torah scroll that commemorates the souls of our holy sons and daughters who fell in the terrible war we are in. Each one of them is an entire world. Each one of them is a letter in the Torah scroll, without which the scroll is incomplete.”