Hundreds of Jewish community members gathered at Wilkes Elementary School on Aug. 28 to complete and welcome a new Torah scroll, Judaism’s most sacred object, in a celebratory ceremony hosted by the Chabad Jewish Center of Bainbridge Island and North Kitsap.

Members of the Jewish community joined the expert ritual scribe as Rabbi David Shushan inked the final letters of the scroll. Following the completion of the Torah, the sacred scroll was taken outdoors under a traditional canopy in a joyous march that included lively music, torches and dancing.

An authentic Torah scroll is used in prayer services and read regularly throughout the year on the Sabbath and holidays and is an intensive work of labor and skill.

Taking months to complete, the handwritten Torah is made of 60 to 80 sheets of parchment that are meticulously cured, tanned and sewn together into a scroll containing exactly 304,805 letters. Timeless dictums mandate everything from the character of the certified Torah scribe to the quality of the parchment and the type of ink used — the slightest error will void the entire 54-portion scroll.

“This was really the making of history,” said Rabbi Mendy Goldshmid, co-director of the Chabad Jewish Center of Bainbridge Island. “This was the first time a CommUnity Torah was written in Kitsap County — a Torah focused on unity, in which every local Jew had the ability to dedicate a part.”

Goldsmid explained that a Torah is more than just a scroll.

“It’s a holy object which represents the unbroken chain of Jewish tradition and survival,” adding: “The Torah that we completed is the same exact Torah Moses wrote 3,334 years ago, to the word. The Torah is the essence of our identity as Jews and welcoming a new Torah scroll to a community is a great cause for celebration, so celebrate we did,” Goldshmid said.