A Photo A Day, I hope: Torah Signing

Milton Feldman, left, watches where Rabbi Moshe Klein, right wants hi to fill in the letters to the last word of the Torah while Rabbi Fishel Zaklos watches at the Ritz Carlton in Naples Sunday night. Rabbi Zaklos, leader of the Chabad of Naples held the dedication of their new Torah at the hotel to a crowd of more than 300. . Erik Kellar/ Copyright Naples Daily News

So this photo I shot on a Sunday night in Naples. I was the photo editor at the Naples Daily News and there was another assignment that night that my on duty photographer was doing so I figured I would do thi to help out and make life easier for everyone.

This was a Torah dedication for the Chabad of Naples. The Torah was made over the course of a year or two by the scribe, Rabbi Moshe Klein, in Israel. Rabbi Kleing completed nearly the whole thing but left a couple of lines yet incomplete  to be done here in Naples.  Supporters of Chabad were asked to help finish the lines of the sacred scroll.

This photo was done under the arm of another photographer, one hired by the Chabad he was trying to muscle me out of the shot, anyway I stuck my camera in and eyeballing from a foot back from the viewfinder I was able to squeeze off several frames.

The wonderful light comes from a spot light lighting them. It was a great event and I was already friends with Rabbi Fischel Zaklos so it really proved to be a great experience.  Later the next day the publisher from the paper came up to me and sad what an awesome shot it was and commented that it looked like a Vermeer painting, which I agree with.  It also won a clip contest with the NPPA. It was nice to see show the photographers I worked with that I could still pull it out every once in a while.

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