WESTMINSTER — Last year, the Jewish community in Westminster noticed Nazi symbols being spray painted around the city. One even showed up on a bridge near the Chabad of Northwest Metro Denver.
The phrase spray painted in German translates to "work sets you free," a phrase that hung from the gates of concentration camps during the Holocaust. When the graffiti was noticed, Rabbi Benjy Brackman wanted to create some sort of a memorial in Westminster.
Right around the same time, Maureen and Stuart Philips decided to donate a new Torah scroll to the Chabad. And that's when the rabbi decided that the scroll itself would be dedicated to the memory of Holocaust victims.
"We wanted to do something for Chabad because it brings a lot of comfort to people. they do a lot of outreach,” said Stuart Philips, the principal donor.
It took a skilled scribe in Israel a full year to meticulously copy the five books of Moses onto the parchment.
“There are so many aspects of the Torah that have universal messages to it. We felt a place like Westminster, Northwest Metro Denver, this is a great opportunity to share that light and respond with anti-Semitism, with darkness with a beautiful Torah, a source of tremendous light," Brackman said.
It cost roughly $30,000. The scribe left a few letters to be completed by local Holocaust survivors on the day of the dedication.
