Many hundreds of residents of Kiryat Malachi participated last week in the Torah Knesset event held by the Shamis family to commemorate the soul of their toddler son Moshe Nissim, may God have mercy on him - who passed away about six months ago, after a short illness.
The magnificent and elegant Torah scroll was given to the family by the Yad L'Achim organization, after it was won in a huge lottery held on the eve of Shavuot last year, among all participants in the annual Redeeming the Captives mitzvah that the organization conducts.
When Rabbi Shamis was informed that he had won the lottery, he and his wife were at the bedside of their infant son in the intensive care unit. "I was aware of the lottery, but the medical concerns surrounding our son's sudden illness made me forget about it," he said at the time - adding: "I work voluntarily to bring the Torah to Jews who are not observant of the Torah and mitzvot, and it is clear to me that this privilege is what led me to win the book.".
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Two weeks after winning, their toddler son Moshe Nissim sadly passed away, and so it was clear that the book would be dedicated to his soul.
After some deliberation, the family decided to bring the book to the Chabad yeshiva 'Tomchei Temimim' in the city of Kiryat Malachi, which works mainly with young people from the Commonwealth of Independent States.
At noon today, the writing of the letters was held at the family home, with the participation of, among others, the secretary of the Chabad Rabbinical Court and the rabbi of the Chabad community in Kiryat Malachi, Rabbi Yitzhak Yehuda Yaroslavsky, his son and right-hand man in the rabbinate, Rabbi Ben Zion Yaroslavsky, the influential Rabbi Avraham Friedlander, family friend Rabbi Yaakov Tsirkos - who himself previously won a Torah scroll in the Yad L'Achim lottery, rabbis and influential figures in the neighborhood, as well as relatives and friends.
Also taking part in writing the letters were activists from Yad L'Achim, who personally worked around the introduction of the Torah scroll, led by Rabbi Chaim Eisenberg, Rabbi Moshe Biton, Rabbi Chaim Kahn and Rabbi Yoav Ze'ev Robinson.
Afterwards, a procession left the family home in great pomp and splendor, with hundreds of residents of the city participating. The procession was accompanied by a special and decorated vehicle rented by Yad Laachim for the event, from which emanated a powerful song that accompanied the marchers who accompanied the Torah scroll with songs and dances.
After the procession passed through the main street that crosses 'Nachlat Har Chabad' – the community that in recent years has become the most populous neighborhood in the country of Hasidism, the book was taken to the local yeshiva hall, where 'circumambulations' were held for several hours with the Torah scrolls that were removed from the Ark of the Covenant.
Rabbi Shamis excitedly said that exactly that day marked the 23rd anniversary of the founding of the yeshiva by the pious Rabbi Mordechai Kosliner zt"l. For many years, Rabbi Kosliner helped preserve the Jewish embers in the Soviet Union under communist rule, and upon his arrival in Israel, he opened the yeshiva under the instruction of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. "I made my way in the life of Torah and mitzvot here in the yeshiva," Rabbi Shamis said excitedly. "Therefore, to bring the Torah scroll here for the benefit of our infant son, and especially on Rabbi Kosliner's birthday, is an exciting and special closing of a circle.".
Rabbi Shamis, of course, also wanted to thank the Yad Laachim organization, which brought the book as a gift. "Yad Laachim purchased the book for us so that we could enter it on the date we specified and where we wanted. In my name, in the name of the family, and in the name of the yeshiva, I would like to thank Yad Laachim for the book and everything involved in its entry, from the street ads, to funding the procession, to the torchlight procession and the event itself.".
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