In 2011, we restored our Czech Memorial Holocaust Torah. On three occasions in October, we joined together in small groups to rewrite a Hebrew letter in our Torah. It is the 613th mitzvah to write a Torah, and by joining our hand with our Sofer’s, we performed this mitzvah. In addition to restoring our Torah, we had opportunities to explore Torah through artistic expressions of painting, collage, poetry, and more. CBB rededicated our Torah on Saturday, April 13, 2013.
Click Here for Photos of Past Letter Writing Sessions
Frequently Asked Questions
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About the Czech Holocaust Torah
Thirty years ago, the Abrahams Family sponsored the acquisition of a Torah from Pribram, Czechoslovakia. This beloved and aging Torah is one of over 1500 scrolls gathered in Prague during the Nazi occupation, and later rescued by The Westminster Trust in London (czechmemorialscrollstrust.org). Much of the Jewish community in Czechoslovakia perished in the Holocaust, and so, post-war, The Westminster Trust took on the task of finding homes for these orphaned Torahs. Our Torah, usually housed in the main ark at CBB, is brought out and read from on Yom Kippur afternoon.
Our Czech Memorial Torah is over 200 years old and contains a unique combination of Ashkenazi and Sephardic characters as well as some Kabbalistic symbols. Many of the letters are crumbling and some of the bindings and parchment need to be repaired. With the help of a generous gift from The Stein Family, in 2011 we engaged Sofer Neil Yerman to perform the restoration of our Torah at his New York studio (www.neilyerman.com).
Want to learn more about our Torah and the other Torah scroll-holders? Click here: http://www.memorialscrollstrust.org