A festive ceremony marking the start of writing a new Sefer Torah for the Beit Chabad in the Vietnamese city of Sapa was held at the world’s largest Jewish center, “Menora.” The creation of this Sefer Torah is a special gift from the Belyayev family, and its writing commenced on the special date of the 22nd of Shevat—the yahrzeit of the righteous Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson, wife of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. This act stands as another vivid testament to the close spiritual connection between the Dnipro Jewish Community and this small tourist town in Southeast Asia.
Our site has previously reported (read more here) on the opening of the Beit Chabad in Sapa and its close ties to Dnipro, as the Sapa Beit Chabad is led by Rabbi Akiva Steinberger and his wife, Rabbanit Giti—the daughter of the Rebbe’s shluchim, Rabbi Moshe Leib and Shoshana Weber, who are well-known and respected in the Dnipro Jewish Community.
At the start of the ceremony, guests viewed exclusive video footage about the life and activities of the Beit Chabad in Sapa, located in the mountains of Lao Cai province in northern Vietnam, and listened to a detailed account of the shluchim’s work in this popular tourist region. Participants learned about the challenges facing Jewish life in such a remote location, how many Israeli and other Jewish travelers visit Sapa annually, the work already being done today, and the development prospects for the Beit Chabad in this city and the entire province.
Currently, a Sefer Torah on loan from the Head Shliach of Chabad in Vietnam, Rabbi Menachem Hartman, is used for prayers and events in Sapa. However, the community is in acute need of its own Sefer Torah. Upon the completion and delivery of the new Sefer Torah, the gift of the Belyayev family, the Sapa Beit Chabad will have its own, enabling it to hold full minyanim, celebrate Shabbos and holidays, conduct the most important ceremonies, and elevate Jewish life in Sapa to a new, qualitatively higher level.
The first letters in the new Sefer Torah were inscribed by the Chief Rabbi of Dnipro and the region, Shmuel Kaminezki; Rabbi Moshe Leib Weber; and the initiator of this sacred undertaking, the esteemed member of the Dnipro Jewish Community, Mr. Yosef David Belyayev. Afterwards, other community leaders, activists, members, and ceremony participants were invited to inscribe letters—a personal and deeply moving moment of connection to the holiness of the Torah for each one.
“For our dear children who are building Jewish life in such a distant place, it is incredibly important to feel this support and this connection with Dnipro,” said Rabbi Moshe Leib Weber. “They greatly need their own Sefer Torah and are endlessly grateful to Mr. Yosef David Belyayev and his family, as well as to all who are participating in this holy endeavor, to the entire united and cohesive Dnipro Jewish Community under the leadership of its Chief Rabbi, Shmuel Kaminezki.”
