The Woodacre Torah

The Jews have been wandering for millennia and have survived as a people. We Jews are of many races, speaking a multitude of languages in every hemisphere, continent, climate and time zone on the globe. I truly believe that we shall continue to survive and evolve -- in both our individual personal and collective understandings of what being Jewish means. Not just here, and not just in Israel but everywhere that Jews can live. The title of Molly Crabapple’s recent best seller, “Here Where We Live is Our Country” speaks to that. Some of our original members of the Jewish Congregation of the San Geronimo Valley have moved on, including Andreas Wittenstein, who suggested that we add a Hebrew name for our congregation -- Gan HaLev --Garden of the Heart. But many of us are still here. The Children who attended our Hebrew school and celebrated their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs with us years ago are now grown. Many have moved away and a few have children of their own. We older members continue to gather to celebrate Jewish life in the Valley. More than 100 people attend our High Holiday services in Samuel P. Taylor Park. And in the past few years, a number of new young Jewish families have moved into the community and found each other. They are starting Jewish classes for their children. And so it goes, from generation to generation. L’Dor va Dor. When The Woodacre Torah was first published on the Web, San Francisco’s Jewish newspaper, JWeekly, ran an article about our torah that said: “The scroll is a tangible connection for us to the Jews who perished in Europe during this century,” Sadowsky says. “It is a great honor for us to be able to give it a new life and a new home in our community.” My hope is that you will enjoy reading our story.