Whether you sell your labour or are in the enviable position of being able to buy other people's, poor or rich, the daily grind of life in fast-paced Hong Kong often sweeps spiritual considerations aside.
But for a congregation of 200 Jewish families who attend a Mid-Levels synagogue, the completion of a new Sefer Torah is a fresh reminder that there are some values that are more important.
A Sefer Torah is a handwritten copy of the Torah or Pentateuch, the holiest book within Judaism. It must meet extremely strict standards of production.
'Our project is important to the people because it provides a grounding for them on matters that are beyond their everyday concerns,' said Rabbi Stanton Zamek, who heads the United Jewish Congregation of Hong Kong. 'It reminds them of the transcendent values that are truly meaningful in life.'
For more than a year, members of the congregation in Robinson Road have looked forward to this weekend, when the wisdom of their holiest scriptures, which has been written anew in parchments, will be sewed together to form a new centrepiece artefact for worship.
The project to create a new Sefer Torah involved the drafting in from Jerusalem of a renowned scribe - Jamie Shear, who has spent the past year painstakingly writing up the scroll.
