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Chabad of Hawaii is hosting a ceremony Sunday to celebrate the arrival of two replacement Torah scrolls. Read more

Chabad of Hawaii is hosting a ceremony Sunday to celebrate the arrival of two replacement Torah scrolls. The synagogue’s original Torah scrolls — including one that was made in Lithuania in the 1850s and survived the Holocaust — were stolen on Jan. 20, 2018.

One of the replacement scrolls was donated by a benefactor, and Chabad of Hawaii was able to raise the money to commission the second scroll.

While technology makes it possible to churn out millions of publications a week, crafting a single Torah scroll takes over a year to complete, according to Chabad of Hawaii. A certified Torah scribe must be found, and the quality of the parchment and ink must be taken into account. Each of the 304,808 specially handwritten letters and notations of the Torah — 600,000 in all — must be meticulously scripted. Even a slight error voids the entire scroll, according to Chabad of Hawaii.

Rabbi Moshe Klein, who inscribed the Torah scrolls, flew in from New York to take part in the ceremony and, with assistance from participants, will complete the last few sentences of the scrolls. He and Rabbi Itchel Krasnjansky of Chabad of Hawaii also traveled to the neighbor islands Thursday, where Chabad leaders hosted similar but smaller celebrations.

Sunday’s celebration, which starts at 12:30 p.m., will include an outdoor processional, live music, a chuppah (Jewish wedding canopy), dancing and refreshments. Chabad of Hawaii is adjacent to the Ala Moana Hotel, 410 Atkinson Drive.