A new Torah dedicated in memory of the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks is due to be unveiled next month following a community-wide effort.

The Rabbi Sacks Unity Torah has seen hundreds of Jewish community members in Elstree and Borehamwood fulfil the unique mitzvah (deed) of owning a letter in the Torah.

The project was initiated by Dovid and Leah Mitz following Dovid’s recovery from Covid-19 in March 2020. After hearing of her husband’s grave condition, Leah made an oath that, if his condition were to improve, she would initiate a Torah project for the entire community in merit of his survival.

In November 2020 the Mitz family, Rabbi Chaim Hoch and Leah Hoch of the Elstree & Borehamwood Jewish Life Centre, together with several members of the community, commissioned a Manchester-based sofer (scribe) to handwrite the new Torah which is soon to be complete.

The Torah is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

On Sunday March 6 from 3:15pm, the local Jewish community will come together to celebrate the new Torah with a marching parade in the town centre and family entertainment outside the Jewish Life Centre and in Borehamwood Shopping Park.

Leah Mitz said: "It has been amazing to see a cross section of the community come together and rally behind the Unity Torah. Hundreds of people from different denominations and backgrounds have inscribed a letter in the Torah.

"It’s truly inspiring how the project has brought so many people together."

Rabbi Chaim Hoch added: "After nearly 18 months, the Unity Torah is soon going to be welcomed to Elstree and Borehamwood. We’re excited to invite the community to come together next month and crown the Torah in its new home in the Jewish Life Centre, but it will ultimately be available for all to use."

Lady Elaine Sacks, the wife of the late Rabbi Sacks who died in 2020, recorded a video last May in support of the Unity Torah.