Eddie Schachter Sefer Torah Dedication

Sunday, June 17th 2012, was a memorable day in our shul’s history. Our synagogue dedicated a new Torah to the memory of the 1,500,000 children murdered by the Nazis during the war. These young souls were not given the chance to make their mark on this world; but we will persevere in keeping their memories alive.

The driving force behind this Torah (and whom this Torah honors) is Eddie Schachter. Eddie is a Montreal legend, but he is first and foremost a survivor; and what Eddie remembers above all is the suffering of children during the war. Eddie still has nightmares about the sadistic Nazi brutality he witnessed and the awful murders of small children. That’s why Eddie’s passion has been caring for children, from being TBDJ’s “candy man”, the one who hands candies out in synagogue, to being a true “angel”, someone who helps grade school students with tuition, and brings food baskets to impoverished families.

On the day of dedication, the congregation gathered in the home of Samuel and Brenda Gewurz to witness Eddie writing the final letter in the Torah, and to listen to words of inspiration from Rabbi Sidney Shoham, a dear friend of Eddie’s. Various members of the community gathered under the ceremonial chuppah and proceeded to the synagogue accompanied by dancing and the stirring music of Adam Stotland and Jason Rosenblatt.

The event raised much needed funds that will be used in support of the synagogue’s youth programs. It will support our new junior congregation for grade 2-6, and the Youth Minyan room and other classrooms will be renovated in the coming months. This Torah will enable us to build a brighter Jewish future for our children. We are proud that this Torah will be used by a new generation of young children, and will ensure that they never forget the million and a half children who perished in the Holocaust.

We’d like to thank all those who contributed towards the Sefer Torah, all 225+ families! We’re grateful to theSamuel & Brenda Gewurz for opening their home to us and ensuring our day began in the most fitting way.

We’d like to thank our committee chairs, Ian Ellbogen and Judah Aspler, and all our committee members who planned the fundraiser and dedication event: Mayer Diamond, Ami Drazin,Sam Drazin, Phil Friedman, Ilan Gewurz, Samuel Gewurz, Alan Katznelson,Iris Levitt, Yakov Lev, Morrie Levy, Leon Monaker, Bea Schachter, Leon Serruya, Miriam Singer, Howie Steinberg, Stephanie Steinman.

Special thanks to Sander Wasser and Nathan Rosenshein for ensuring the dedication ran smoothly, and to Martha Benisty and Esther Hutman for their office support.

We extend our gratitude to Ruby Friedman, Jonathan Niederhoffer, and Shalom Diamond for all of their photography and video work, and to Mike Cohen for his press coverage.

See all our photos and videos, as well as press coverage in The Jewish Tribune and The Suburban.