Blessings were extended to Iowa residents Sunday as the Iowa Torah Scroll of Unity was dedicated in the state capitol.The scroll is a handwritten copy of the Torah, the holy text of the Jewish faith, said Rabbi Yossi Jacobson, of the Judaic Resource Center in Des Moines. Gov. Tom Vilsack and the Judaic Research Center were involved in a campaign to have the scroll made and dedicated in the state, he said. Jacobson said the scroll is an effort by Iowa’s Jewish community to make the state better by making the scroll’s lessons available to all Iowans. Some of these lessons include issues such as morality and purposeful living. “The idea is to increase awareness of Jewish presence in Iowa. It also gives people a chance to learn about the Torah,” said Elaine McDuff, temporary assistant professor of philosophy and religious studies. During the ceremony Sunday, a crown was placed on the scroll, Jacobson said. Crowning is an ancient tradition marking the completion of a handwritten Torah scroll.”In every family, the father is the king, and God is our father in heaven,” he said. “By crowning the Torah, we are trying to show that our father in heaven is the king of kings and father of fathers.” Usually Torahs are crowned in a synagogue, but this one was crowned at the capitol because it was dedicated to the state of Iowa, Jacobson said.The Torah, which consists of the first five books of the Bible, is God’s word to the Jews, he said. “It’s not just a book. It’s the blueprint for living a godly life,” Jacobson said. McDuff said Orthodox Jews follow the Torah strictly, even ritual laws such as food restrictions, but Reformed Jews follow only the moral laws. “Much of Western history has been shaped by the concepts and images of the stories in the Torah,” she said. While many Jews have the Torah printed in a book for personal study, all scrolls must be handwritten by a scribe, McDuff said. Torah scrolls are very expensive to create, and she said many Iowans helped fund the making of this scroll.Jacobson said work on this scroll began in Jerusalem in April. A scribe wrote in the final verse during the ceremony Sunday. The scroll is in Hebrew but was verbally translated to English for audience members.”We hope that this Torah will welcome the greatest time ever when all people will be able to dance to one tune and love each other,” Jacobson said. “It is celebrating diversity, and that we have to all love each other because God loves us.”In the months following the ceremony, Jacobson said he plans to travel from city to city with the scroll educating people about the Torah. “It might be called the Rabbi and the traveling Torah,” he said. “Maybe we’ll put wheels on it.”