Holocaust Torah Scrolls
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In 1995, Rabbi Mark Shapiro of Blessed Memory, was teaching BJBE high school students about an usual Torah scroll that had been confiscated by the Nazis during World War II. The Torah had been discovered with hundreds of others in a basement store room of an empty synagogue outside of Prague. Many of the Torah scrolls found after the war were sent to Westminster Synagogue in London where they were cataloged, researched and repaired as best they could be.
Westminster offered these scrolls on "permanent loan" as a remembrance of life and communities before the Nazis. At BJBE, families joined together to donate funds to bring a Torah to our congregation. When the Torah arrived, it was unboxed carefully, and although it was "wounded"—some ink had flaked away and it bore large spots—but the Torah was whole. That night, Rabbi Shapiro told the students that the Torah had originally come from a synagogue in Kolin in the Czech Republic. From his research Rabbi Shapiro knew that the synagogue remained standing as did the Jewish Kolin cemetery, from the 18th century, although it had fallen into disrepair, with weeds and brambles covering many graves. |
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Rabbi Shapiro said to the students, "If I could fly us all to Kolin we would clean that cemetery and pray in the old synagogue." Larry Glickman, the school principal, who was sitting in on the session gave a classic Jewish response, "If not now, when?"
Within a year Rabbi Shapiro led a group including Larry and ten BJBE teenagers to Kolin, Prague, and the Terezin Concentration Camp. The group, as promised, cleaned the old cemetery and prayed in the old Synagogue.
For many years BJBE teens took a trip to Kolin, a reminder that the Jewish world still lives, that the Jews of Kolin are not forgotten.
Within a year Rabbi Shapiro led a group including Larry and ten BJBE teenagers to Kolin, Prague, and the Terezin Concentration Camp. The group, as promised, cleaned the old cemetery and prayed in the old Synagogue.
For many years BJBE teens took a trip to Kolin, a reminder that the Jewish world still lives, that the Jews of Kolin are not forgotten.
Congregation BJBE is the proud caretaker of an additional Torah scroll that survived the Holocaust. Like the Kolin Torah, these scrolls are much more than words on a page—these aged parchments carry the ancient stories of our tradition and heritage. They are tender reminders of a painful past.
When we lovingly read from these scrolls we remember communities that no longer exist. Rabbis who once taught their students. Men, women and children who came to synagogue and lived vibrant lives before the Nazis and the evils of the war.
On permanent loan from the London Memorial Scrolls Trust, the BJBE Holocaust Torahs are regularly used to teach our students, to inspire participants in our youth groups, and to connect our B’nai Mitzvah families to their living tradition.
Scroll #1484 is from the town Kolin, about 45 minutes outside of Prague in the Czech Republic on the Vltava river. Though a synagogue building still proudly stands in the city of Kolin, the Jewish community never returned after the horrors of World War II. The synagogue was lovingly restored in the early 2000’s, and is used today as a community center and museum.
Since 1998, the BJBE Senior Youth Group has made regular journeys to the Czech Republic, not only to visit the synagogue that was once home to our Kolin Torah Scroll, but to also help clean the Jewish cemetery on the outskirts of town. Though basic cemetery maintenance is provided by Kolin, there is no Jewish population to bring K’vod (honor) to those buried there, and no one to provide a meaningful remembrance.
Scroll #564 is an orphan scroll. Some of the 1,564 Torah scrolls that were transported from Prague to London after the war had lost their identifying information. For BJBE, our orphan Torah scroll represents people around the world who have been left parentless through war, poverty or circumstance.
On the day Scroll #564 came to BJBE, it was brought to the chapel ark for temporary storage on a Friday morning. At the moment the Torah arrived, the BJBE Early Childhood program was using the room for services to welcome Shabbat. The children, parents and teachers were delighted to be in the chapel as the Torah arrived, and welcomed the Torah to its new home with joyous song and dance. Though we don’t know where scroll #564 came from or who it was used by, this orphan has now found a home.
When we lovingly read from these scrolls we remember communities that no longer exist. Rabbis who once taught their students. Men, women and children who came to synagogue and lived vibrant lives before the Nazis and the evils of the war.
On permanent loan from the London Memorial Scrolls Trust, the BJBE Holocaust Torahs are regularly used to teach our students, to inspire participants in our youth groups, and to connect our B’nai Mitzvah families to their living tradition.
Scroll #1484 is from the town Kolin, about 45 minutes outside of Prague in the Czech Republic on the Vltava river. Though a synagogue building still proudly stands in the city of Kolin, the Jewish community never returned after the horrors of World War II. The synagogue was lovingly restored in the early 2000’s, and is used today as a community center and museum.
Since 1998, the BJBE Senior Youth Group has made regular journeys to the Czech Republic, not only to visit the synagogue that was once home to our Kolin Torah Scroll, but to also help clean the Jewish cemetery on the outskirts of town. Though basic cemetery maintenance is provided by Kolin, there is no Jewish population to bring K’vod (honor) to those buried there, and no one to provide a meaningful remembrance.
Scroll #564 is an orphan scroll. Some of the 1,564 Torah scrolls that were transported from Prague to London after the war had lost their identifying information. For BJBE, our orphan Torah scroll represents people around the world who have been left parentless through war, poverty or circumstance.
On the day Scroll #564 came to BJBE, it was brought to the chapel ark for temporary storage on a Friday morning. At the moment the Torah arrived, the BJBE Early Childhood program was using the room for services to welcome Shabbat. The children, parents and teachers were delighted to be in the chapel as the Torah arrived, and welcomed the Torah to its new home with joyous song and dance. Though we don’t know where scroll #564 came from or who it was used by, this orphan has now found a home.