Autumn 2001

WARSAW, POLAND

Jewish Community in Connecticut
Donates Sefer Torah to Lauder Morasha School

Joyous Dedication Ceremony Held in Warsaw
Each year on the Jewish holiday of Lag B'Omer, the Lauder-Morasha School in Warsaw hosts its annual sports and field day. This past May, however, was an exception. Instead of sports clothes, the children dressed in white shirts, and instead of filling the playing field, they lined the school’s staircases, each holding a blue iris and singing “Hayvenu Shalom Aleichem.”

On May 11, 2001 the Lauder-Morasha School received the extraordinary gift of a sefer Torah that was repaired and donated by the students, families, and staff of Ezra Academy in Woodbridge, Connecticut. The dedication ceremony took place in the Lauder-Morasha School synagogue, which was packed with singing and dancing students, faculty, and parents from both schools.

The idea for the project was born in the spring of 2000, when graduates and parents of Ezra Academy first visited the Lauder Morasha School. Impressed by the scope and depth of Mr. Lauder's commitment to the revival of Jewish life in Poland, they made a communal decision to join him in this endeavor.

The visitors from Ezra Academy were most affected by the fact that the Aron Hakodesh (ark) was empty, and decided to undertake a year-long process of having a sofer (scribe) repair a Torah scroll that would eventually be housed in the synagogue of the school.

Ezra Academy also decided to create a new Torah mantle with a theme based on the saying by Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav "All the world is a narrow bridge." "This is a bridge paved with friendship and mutual respect," said Ms. Shelley Kreiger, principal of Ezra Academy. "We look forward to continue traveling back and forth as our relationships grow."

In his message to participants of both schools, Ronald S. Lauder continued this theme by explaining that "Ezra Academy has shown us, by repairing and bringing this Sefer Torah, with its beautiful covering and exquisite crown, that the Jewish world is indeed connected by a gesher tzar me'od, a very narrow bridge. The geographical distance between our two communities has been diminished by this spiritual gift and by the growing bonds of friendship between our two schools. This is a shining example of partnership which I encourage others to follow."

Foundation Executive Vice President Dr. George Bán was present at the ceremony in Warsaw and thanked Ezra Academy for their gift and magnanimous efforts on behalf of the Lauder Morasha School.

The Torah now sits in the Lauder Morasha School's Aaron Hakodesh adorned by a Parochet (curtain) designed and made by the Lauder-Morasha students and staff. Each of the school's 185 students affixed their own fingerprints in bright colors, creating a rainbow of leaves on the branches of the painted tree. A matching Parochet was presented to Ezra Academy.

"Each of us here today is one letter of the Torah," said Helise Lieberman, director of the Lauder-Morasha School. "Each of us is one leaf on this special tree--the tree of life. Without one of the letters, without one of the leaves, we would not be complete. This is what being part of klal yisrael, whether we are in Woodbridge or Warsaw, is all about."