The TLC Minyan

ספר תורה

Our Sefer Torah

How a small minyan, its members and its friends brought a Sefer Torah home, and dedicated it in memory of a father.

Members and friends of the minyan gathered around the new Sefer Torah

  1. September 2023

    A minyan begins

    The TLC Minyan started in September 2023: neighbors in Valley Village davening together every Shabbos. Over time it grew into a true kehillah.

    The Sefer Torah’s mantle resting beside a copy of Torah Learning Centers, the sefer written by Rabbi Yisroel Meir Vogel

  2. December 2025

    A Sefer Torah of Our Own

    In December 2025, several members and friends of the minyan put together the funds to purchase a Sefer Torah of our own.

    On the day of the Hachnasas Sefer Torah, friends and family took turns sitting beside the sofer to fill in the final letters, each one a share in the mitzvah of writing a Torah.

    A member of the minyan writing a letter with the sofer’s quill
    The final letters

  3. Dedication

    In memory of Rabbi Yisroel Meir Vogel z"l

    לעילוי נשמת אבי מורי
    הרב ישראל מאיר בן ר׳ יחזקאל ז״ל
    תנצב״ה

    The Sefer Torah was dedicated in memory of Henry Vogel’s father, Rabbi Yisroel Meir Vogel z"l.

    The emblem of our minyan comes from the cover of the sefer he wrote, Torah Learning Centers, and his name lives on in ours. Every time this Torah is read, it is read in his memory.

    The Torah Learning Centers emblem: an open Torah scroll
    From the cover of Torah Learning Centers, by Rabbi Yisroel Meir Vogel
    The Sefer Torah with its silver yad and the dedication in memory of Rabbi Yisroel Meir ben Yechezkel

  4. The Hachnasas Sefer Torah

    Bringing the Torah home

    With the last letter written, the Torah was crowned with its silver yad and carried out under a chuppah, with singing and dancing all the way to the minyan.

    Dancing with the Torah under the chuppah
    The Sefer Torah carried under a chuppah through the street, surrounded by dancing
    Under the chuppah
    The new Sefer Torah with its silver yad and crown
    The yad and crown

  5. Simcha

    Pure joy

    And then the dancing: fathers and sons, friends and neighbors, each taking a turn holding the new Torah.

    Dancing with the new Torah
    Dancing with the Sefer Torah beneath the chuppah
    Friends dancing with the Sefer Torah inside
    Small crown-shaped favors given out at the celebration
    Favors from the celebration

More moments from the day

May this Torah be read, learned and loved in our minyan for many years to come, l’iluy nishmas Rabbi Yisroel Meir ben Yechezkel z"l.

This week’s Shabbos times →