By COLlive Reporter
Family and friends from near and far gathered in College Station, Texas, this week for an emotional and uplifting series of events in honor of the miraculous recovery and homecoming of Leibel Lazaroff, 20, who was shot and seriously wounded in the Chanukah terror attack in Bondi, Australia, and underwent 11 surgeries and weeks in the hospital.
Leibel, son of Rabbi Yossi and Manya Lazaroff, Directors of Chabad at Texas A and M University in College Station, returned home two weeks ago to a warm welcome from family and friends.
The Seudas Hodaah took place on Motzei Shabbos, as family and friends who had already come in for the Torah Siyum on Sunday gathered for an uplifting Shabbos. During the evening, a special memento coordinated together with Sichos in English was distributed – a newly translated maamer of the Rebbe Rashab on Baruch She’asah Nissim, that the Rebbe gave out on Yud Shevat 1991.
Attendees received the initial beta draft translation of the first half of the maamer, a beautiful and complex discourse. A full sefer with the complete translation will be published in the future as well.
Leibel addressed the crowd with deep emotion, offering heartfelt thanks to Hashem for his miraculous healing and recovery. He expressed profound gratitude to his parents, family, and friends, and to the many people around the world who took on mitzvos and davened on his behalf.
He also thanked the doctors and medical team who, as he described, were the hands of Hashem that ultimately brought about his recovery.
A special video prepared for the evening was shown as well, documenting Leibel’s journey to recovery.
Following the formal program, the evening turned into a spirited kumzitz that lasted until three o’clock in the morning. In a meaningful twist, that was the exact time the Sofer arrived in town for the next day’s Torah completion. Leibel was still there with his friends, singing and farbrenging late into the night.
The following day, the community gathered at College Station City Hall for the completion of a new Sefer Torah dedicated in memory of Manya’s mother, Mrs. Cecile Friedman OBM (Tzivia bas Yakov Yitzchak). She was a Crown Heights resident who was ann active member of the Chevra Kadisha. Her yartzeit had been just days earlier.
Families filled the hall as the final letters were written. Children enjoyed hands-on crafts, Torah-themed activities, and even had the opportunity to write with quill and ink, experiencing the process of writing a Torah firsthand. Community members purchased letters in the Torah and came forward to participate as the Sofer completed the final words.
From there, the Torah was led with lively music and dancing, as the crowd paraded from City Hall to Chabad, transforming a pickup truck into their very own Torah truck. The dancing continued as the new Torah was brought inside alongside the existing Sifrei Torah, followed by a festive meal.
This marked the first completion of a Sefer Torah in the area and the first new Torah for the College Station community.
For a family and community that experienced months of fear and uncertainty, the weekend was filled with hakaras hatov, simcha, and renewed strength. “The new Torah, a first for our city, will hopefully bring many blessings to the community,” Rabbi Lazaroff said.
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