The memory of late Gants Hill Rabbi was honoured by an almost 400-strong procession bearing a handwritten Torah scroll.
Hundreds from Redbridge’s Jewish community gathered at the home of the late Rabbi Moshe Muller, in The Crescent, and walked to the Chabad Lubavitch Centre, in Eastern Avenue, via Cranbrook on Sunday April 15.
Rabbi Moshe Muller served as the centre’s director for 20 years until he died in 2016 at the age of 43.
In his memory, the centre embarked on an 18-month project to create a Sefer Torah, in which the five books of moses were written in Hebrew on a single sheet of parchment by a scribe known as a Sofer.
Family, friends and students made the scroll possible by contributing to the costs.
Rabbi Aryeh Sufrin, one of the leaders at the centre said: “He was only 43 when passed away.”
“As young husband and a father, it left the community bereft.”
He added: “[The scroll] was written in his treasured memory and for his ongoing legacy.
“It will be a huge comfort to the family and the many who were touched by him every time they see the scroll being taken out - it has his name on it.”
The ceremony began at 2.30pm, where guests watched the scribe add the final 80 words to the scroll in the Muller family home.
“By writing the scroll altogether we are unifying the project,” Rabbi Sufrin said. The procession then walked through Cranbrook Road and circled Gants Hill roundabout before making their way to the centre.
Rabbi Sufrin said: “It’s significant that we take it through the streets as a display of Jewish pride and to have a positive relationship with our neighbours.”
“We carry the Torah for all to see the tenets of Jewish law.”
Explaining the signficance of walking around the roundabout, he added: “Rabbi Muller would light a menorah at the Gants Hill roundabout in celebration of the festival of Chanukah every year.”
As the new scroll was brought into the synagogue the previous scrolls were brought out to meet it and guests celebrated with dancing and singing.
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