Torah Inauguration - a Day of Distinction

Description

On Saturday 15th November 2025, four progressive Jewish communities of the Limerick-Shannon area, Cork, Galway, and Belfast held a special ceremony in Istabraq Hall, Limerick to celebrate their having recently received four newly-donated Torah scrolls from Temple Emanu-El in Haverhill, Massachusetts, USA. Each scroll (written by hand on parchment) is estimated to be around 100 years old from either Eastern Europe (Lithuania) and/or Israel/Palestine. Yonit Kosovske (an active member and one of the principal coordinators of events in the Limerick-Shannon area Jewish community) was on the organising committee for the November 15th Torah Inauguration Ceremony ("Hachnasat Sifrei Torei"). The ceremony was a sabbath morning ("shabbat") service officiated by Yonit's sister Rabbah Riqi Kosovske of Temple Beit Ahava, the Reform synagogue of the Greater Northampon area in western Massachusetts, USA. Attended by 80 people from all around Ireland, it was a historic event and ritual-filled ceremony full of prayer, poetry, music, and speeches by members of multiple faith communities, including Michael Burrows, Bishop of the Church of Ireland, Limerick, and Maria Donoghue from the Office of the Mayor, as well as Limerick Civic Trust, and others, including guests from Glenstal Abbey, the Benedictine monastery in Murroe, Co Limerick. The event was attended by friends and colleagues from diverse backgrounds and faiths, including Jewish, Muslim, Baháʼí, Sikh, Catholic, Church of Ireland, Atheist, Agnostic, and several others. Anyone interested in finding out more about the local progressive Jewish community in the Limerick-Shannon area may email: [email protected], which is managed by Yonit.