French-Israeli entrepreneur Haim Aouizerate announced today the initiation of ‘Torah on the Moon’ (TOTM), a company with a space initiative aimed at landing a Torah (a Hebrew Bible scroll) on the Moon, “to celebrate the ancient book’s innumerable contributions to morality, justice, education, culture, arts and sciences as well as refocus society on the core values it contains”, as the press release states.
An unmanned spacecraft will carry the Torah scroll to the Moon. It will be housed in a specially-made capsule that will protect it during launch, landing and the duration of its time in space. Individuals and groups can fund the unprecedented space mission by purchasing letters and phrases in the special Torah via the project’s website, TorahOnTheMoon.com.
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TOTM’s system allows users to search the full text of the Torah in several languages in order to choose their preferred “real estate” according to the meaning of a verse, the location in the Torah, or the numerical value. Users can even choose letters that spell out their names.
Aouizerate and his team have contracted the European Space Agency to accurately gauge the Moon environment and intend to expand the contract to include testing of the Torah’s space capsule. Additionally, the Zomet Institute, an Israeli non-profit, public research institute run by Orthodox rabbis well-versed in the synthesis of Torah law and modern life, has endorsed the entire Torah on the Moon project and continues to ensure that it fully conforms with Torah law requirements.
Though TOTM is a for-profit entity, it is fueled by a passion for education. To that end, the project will donate a portion of the proceeds to non-profit organizations that promote and facilitate education in Israel and around the world.
