Our Holocaust Torah

Congregation Beth El is privileged to be entrusted with Czech Memorial Torah Scroll #273, which was written about 1850.  This Torah was catalogued by the Jewish Museum in Prague with No.48889 and is from the Pinkas Synagogue in Prague in the Czech Republic. However, it is likely that it originated in another community of which we have no records. It was first allocated to Temple Micah in in Pennsylvania in 1990, under the auspices of Rabbi Robert Alper, and was later transferred to our congregation.

Through the generosity of the Duboff family, our Memorial Torah has been installed in a custom-made display case mounted in our sanctuary. The Hebrew inscription on the display case reads "Adonai li v'lo ira", which comes from the last verse of Adon Olam. It means, "Adonai is with me, I shall not fear".

History

The Nazis collected gold and silver ornaments, ceremonial objects, and Torah scrolls from towns all over Europe.  A group of Czechoslovakian Jews was forced to arrange and catalogue the items which had been assembled in Prague.  After the war, the Communist Government of Czechoslovakia released the Torah scrolls.

In 1964, the Memorial Scrolls Committee of Westminster Synagogue in London arranged for the shipment of 1564 scrolls to the Synagogue, where they were catalogued and repaired and restored when possible.  Each Torah was given a numbered brass plaque to identify its origin. Scrolls that could not be made fit for synagogue use were sent to religious and educational institutions as solemn memorials.  Those that were repaired and could be used in religious service were sent to fulfill requests of synagogues all over the world in return for a contribution toward restoration expenses.

The Memorial Scrolls Trust, a non-profit organization in the United Kingdom, plans to continue to enhance their website so it becomes "a repository of all knowledge concerning the 1564 scrolls, the Jewish history of the towns they came from, the Jews of those towns, their fate, survivors stories, and photos.  More information about the Memorial Scrolls Trust is available on their website.