A sefer Torah is not complete or usable until each word and each letter is there. None of the word (or letters or verses) are specified - we're just contributing to the completion of the whole. It's that smaller units mean more people can participate, both because of numbers and for prices - a child can afford the $36 for a letter (or a parent can afford to buy one for the child), for example, but that will make the entire scroll more meaningful for the child.
As for the wife as "kallah" - neither traditional nor originated with me. A few weeks ago, one of the ladies of my Shabbos Afternoon Women's Parasha Group had her own Torah dedication (along with her husband and family, of course.) We danced around her as if *she* were the bride, so I thought Eleanor deserved the same treatment.
Also, in my old synagogue, we'd do the same for women honored during the annual dinner. We don't dance at the dinners at my current shul.
There are so many resources, and from so many perspectives that I'm not sure where to go - and much of it can only really be picked up by living it.
This is a decent starting point (http://www.jewfaq.org/).
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As for the wife as "kallah" - neither traditional nor originated with me. A few weeks ago, one of the ladies of my Shabbos Afternoon Women's Parasha Group had her own Torah dedication (along with her husband and family, of course.) We danced around her as if *she* were the bride, so I thought Eleanor deserved the same treatment.
Also, in my old synagogue, we'd do the same for women honored during the annual dinner. We don't dance at the dinners at my current shul.
There are so many resources, and from so many perspectives that I'm not sure where to go - and much of it can only really be picked up by living it.
This is a decent starting point (http://www.jewfaq.org/).