Sunday is a day for prayer and worship for many in Northwest Arkansas.



A Jewish congregation in Bentonville has been working hard to restore a piece of religious history for more than a year.



The Etz Chaim congregation finished Project 613 Sunday.



It’s been an 18-month long process to restore a centuries old Torah that originated in the Czech Republic and for our Jewish community carries deep religious meaning.



“This Torah has an amazing history,” Jodi Prohofsky Vice President of the Board at Congregation Etz Chaim said. “We have been restoring a Torah that’s over 200 years old and survived the Holocaust.”



There are exactly 304,805 letters in every scroll.



“As the community was able to afford the sheep skin that the Torah is written on, there have been separate pieces, purchased and put together over time,” Prohofsky said.



“A scribe has to be very meticulous in his writing,” Menachem Bialo Project 613’s Sofer said. “Every letter has to be perfect, so that means if one letter is too long or too short, round instead of square, that can render the entire scroll invalid.”



Torah means to learn, and to teach. The sacred scrolls contain 613 Commandments.



“The 613th is to write Torah, and if your write on letter it is said that you have written Torah,” Prohofsky said.



“They don’t get to pick their letter, we like to call it God’s raffle, whatever letter comes next, that’s the letter they get to write in the Torah,” Rabbi Bialo said.



“The letter we wrote was the letter Hay,” Ryan Malashock Etz Chaim Congregation Member said. “You’re apart of something that’s a little bit bigger than yourself.”



And for congregation members with direct ties to the rich Jewish history, carrying on the memories of their loved ones is a burden they’re willing to bare.



“I believe it is my duty, as the child of a Holocaust survivor to carry on the message, and make sure that people don’t forget,” Jacob Schnur said. “My mother saw her father die on her 16th birthday, her grandfather, grandmother, and her cousin all perished as well.”



So history doesn’t repeat itself.



“This Torah will allow us to use a launching point for discussion about the affects of hatred and prejudice,” Jodi Prohofsky Vice President of the Board of Congregation Etz Chaim said.



“To bring back the voices of all the people who touched it before us and have them be able to live on through us as we carry it forward,” Prohofsky said.



“It’s going to be cool to have one of my kids study from this Torah one day,” Malashock said.



The Torah will be housed in the congregations arc, next to an existing Torah, and will be used in Jewish teachings for years to come.

