25/01/2023
๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐จ๐๐ถ ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ป, ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ, ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฒ๐ณ (๐ฎ๐ฌ.๐ฌ๐ญ.๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฏ)
A Torah scribe (sofer), whose work took him throughout Britain and beyond, died last Monday.
Manchester-born Rabbi U*i Brown, 67, studied at Kfar Chabad in Israel.
He then continued his studies at Lubavitchโs New York headquarters.
He returned to Manchester in 1976 to marry Belinda (nee Cohen) and began work as a sofer.
His nephew Rabbi Dovid Lewis, of South Manchester Synagogue, Bowdon, said: โIt wasnโt just his calligraphy that everybody went for, it was the man.
โWhen you went to see him, you were treated with respect. He never saw anybody as a customer. He saw the person as a partner in bringing a holy item into the world.โ
When Rabbi Lewis was a minister in Newcastle, he would bring his barmitzvah boys to Manchester โto have the experience of going to U*i to get their tefillinโ, he said.
He continued: โHis mission was to make sure everyone knew they werenโt just buying tefillin, they were buying something that made you a man.
โThat was part of your barmitzvah. If you went there you knew that.โ
Rabbi Brown wrote his nephewโs barmitzvah tefillin, which the rabbi got checked regularly.
He said: โI had my tefillin checked regularly in the USA and in Israel, when I was at yeshiva. Every single time, the sofer would take one look and say, โU*i Brownโ. His style of writing was instantly recognisable.โ
Bowdon Shul and many other shuls around the UK purchased Sifrei Torah from Rabbi Brown.
Rabbi Lewis said: โHis Sifrei Torah were some of the nicest Iโve had the merit to read from week in and week out. Shuls did not just buy a Sefer Torah, they bought a treasure.โ
He continued: โHe wasnโt just a sofer, he was also a baal tefilla, leading shul services all over the place.
โBecause of his proficiency as a sofer, he knew the Torah back to front with absolute perfection.
โHis only fault when he davened was that he did it so slowly and methodically.
โFor a man who was a scribe, every letter had to be done perfectly. He had the same reverence, not just for the words he wrote, but for the words he spoke when he davened.
โIf you were in a hurry you didnโt daven in U*iโs minyan. If you wanted to be inspired and understand the davening you davened in U*iโs minyan. He had a lovely understanding of every word he said.โ
Rabbi Lewis, together with other close members of his family, was with Rabbi Brown when he died unexpectedly after an illness which was not predicted to be fatal.
The rabbi said: โHe was surrounded by his wife, sons and daughters-in-law. There was an inspiring atmosphere of peace as we prayed and sang Chabad nigunim (tunes).โ
He is survived by his wife Bayla, sons, Yisroel Dovid, of Coral Spring, Florida, Shmuli, Liverpool Chabad university chaplain, and Zac, brother Yisroel, sister Angela Miller and grandchildren.
He was buried at Philips Park Cemetery, Whitefield.
