It was the first time on Saturday that Rabbi Avi Richler read from a Torah owned by the synagogue that was graciously donated to celebrate 20 years.
It was an ordinary Sabbath ceremony for more than 20 members of the Chabad of Gloucester County in Mullica Hill on Saturday.
As they performed the ceremonial kiss of the Torah before it was put away, it solidified the religious parchment scroll's new home.
It was the first time on Saturday that Rabbi Avi Richler read from a Torah owned by the synagogue that was graciously donated by Alexkandr and Svetlana Falikman, of Brooklyn, New York, to commemorate their 20th anniversary.
Before Saturday, Richler read from a Torah borrowed from another synagogue.
It took a year for the 300,000-word, hand-scribed Torah to make its way from Israel to Brooklyn, New York, and then to Mullica Hill.
And its arrival at the Chabad in Gloucester County symbolizes a new beginning for the members of the Jewish congregation on Main Street in Mullica Hill.
According to Rabbi Avi Richler, the parchment Torah is arriving in time for the plans for a new synagogue on a 9 and a half acre lot to be finalized and submitted to the township.
"This Torah is really the foundation of the service," Richler said, adding this is a symbol that "puts a belief into the community."
The Falikmans emigrated from Russia with nothing. They wanted a better life for themselves. Instead of a long-awaited wedding ceremony that they never had, they wanted to honor two decades together in a different way.
"We commissioned the creation of the Torah for our friends in Gloucester County and invited the Chabad family to celebrate our anniversary with us," Alexkandr Falikman said in a prepared statement issued by Chabad.
During the service in front of about 25 people, Richler explained how people in today's society are "enslaved" by bad habits and burdens. He said having a Torah "is the educational background for us to be free."
"Your impact on the community is going to go far beyond what you imagine," he said thanking the Falikman family for their generous donation.
He told a story of two young men who gave up their entire summer to explore Iowa as a part of a Jewish revival movement in search of those who lost touch with Judaism. Returning to Brooklyn, New York, with no luck, they were called in by a spiritual leader who proceeded to read a letter he received from a woman in Iowa.
In the letter, she wrote that she escaped to Iowa after losing all hope. The woman, a Holocaust survivor, wanted to get as far away from her faith until she looked out her window to see these two men walking.
It was then that her eyes were opened to what she thought was a sign to reconnect with her faith. She ran out to the store to purchase candles to light for the Shabbat to start the Jewish Sabbath - the seventh day of the Jewish week or the day of rest.
"We empower each and every single human being to go out and teach someone else," Richman said.
And those values, he said are derived from the Torah.
Richler likened the tale of these two young men trekking through Iowa to teach Judaism and reconnect with those of the Jewish faith.
"Through the Torah we can be free," Richler said.