Beyond the Blessings: Bringing Tehillim-on-Klaf to Boro Park

In the coming days, Boro Park residents (and those from beyond its borders who wish to avail themselves of this special gift) will make their way towards a special treasure soon to make its home in Boro Park. A rare and unique kosher Sefer Tehillim, handwritten by a sofer stam in Eretz Yisroel with all the hidurim, will be inaugurated, and permanently installed at a designated shul in the heart of Boro Park.

 In honor of this inauguration, BoroPark24 spoke with the energetic individual behind this initiative (who wishes to remain anonymous) on his dreams and ambitions in this Tehillim-on-Klaf-Tefillah project.

 “There are currently three kosher Sefer Tehillim’s in the world that we know of, and are publicly available for people who wish to daven from them,” relates the man, who has also donated many sifrei Torah to locations where they will be used.

 The first publicly available tehillim is at the Kosel, where it is showcased, and anyone who wishes can scroll through the Sefer through the handles that protrude from the glass, at this most auspicious place from the Shechinah has never budged.

 “Three years ago, we inaugurated a Tehillim on Klaf at the Hadasah-Ein-Kerem hospital in Yerushalayim,” he recalls. “It is located right outside the operating room, in the family waiting room… for, can there possibly be more heartfelt tefillos than those said by loved ones at such a precarious times?” The inauguration of the Tehillim at Hadasah attracted great Rabbonim from throughout the Holy Land who inscribed the final letters. In the three years, the the Sefer has been at the hospital, it has indeed served as the conduit for so many tefillos, and soothed the hearts of many suffering people who have found connection to Hashem in difficult times. 

The donor explains the inspiration for this project: “The Steipeler Ga’on, Rav Yaakov Yisroel Kanievsky, zt”l, writes: ‘Tefillah in a kosher Sefer Tehillim written k’din, with kedushah, is more desired, and better accepted in Shomayim.” And indeed, the third known kosher Sefer tehillim is located in the Lederman Shul, where his son, Rav Chaim Kanievsky davens from it each day.

 The Sefer Tehillim will be kept at Boro Park’s “Vasikin Shul,” a famed outpost. “I told the Rov, Rav Gewirtz: You had the zechus to be the first vasikin minyan in Boro Park. Now you will be the first Shul in America to feature a kosher Sefer Tehillim.

 “Our goal is not only to provide this special zechus for powerful tefillah in proximity to Maimonides hospital—which is the reason for this location—but also to unite Klal Yisroel through this special Sefer Tehillim,” explains the donor. “Every day at 1:00 EST, tehillim will be recited from this Sefer, and streamed around the world, so people can join. In addition, it will be available during the daytime hours for anyone who wishes to come daven from it.”

 Rabbonim and Admorim, many from Boro Park, have already inscribed osiyos in the Sefer Tehillim, and have spoken about its great kedushah. Monday, August 9 in the afternoon will mark the formal completion of the Sefer with joy and music, at Minyan Vosikin, 1254 51st Street, with the live davening beginning on the following day, 2 Elul.

 The Boro Park community will be privileged to find solace in the timeless words of Dovid Hamelech as he beseeched Hashem from the depths, and gave heartfelt thanks with the greatest joy—as we make our way through the final throes of the final galus.