ITEMS OF INTEREST

I Wonder

This is an occasional column that answers interesting questions.

What are the Holocaust Torahs?

Early in February 1964, in the nineteenth year after the last German troops had surrendered in Prague, there arrived in London 1,564 Torah scrolls representing hundreds of Jewish communities in Bohemia and Monrovia that had been wiped out in the Holocaust. For many years, the scrolls had lain unused and unattended in a Prague synagogue that had been used as a warehouse. Then they traveled across Europe and arrived at the Westminster Synagogue in London on February 7, 1964. From there, over the years that have passed since, they have been sent out to Jewish communities in Great Britain and twenty other countries in the Western world, including West Germany, to be cherished as memorials to a tragic past but at the same time to be read and studied by a new generation of Jews, the guarantors of Jewish survival and rebirth.

Note: This is an excerpt from: The Story Of the Jewish Torahs of Czechoslovakia appeared in Volume III of the book The Jews of Czechoslovakia Historical Studies and Surveys by Joseph C. Pick pp.584-610.

To read more of the excerpt CLICK HERE

Are there any of these Torahs in Connecticut?

Yes. The Gishrei Shalom Jewish Congregation in Southington recently became "shomrim" or guardian of a Torah written in 1780. The congregation, as guardian, does not own the scroll. Instead 0f displaying it like a museum artifact, Rabbi Shelly Becker has decided to use it just as the congregation would use any other Torah. She understands why congregations might store a scroll of historic value, but she feels it needs to be used. "I made a point of asking my congregations why I thought it was important not to put it in a case," Becker said. "That's what the Nazis wanted. (The scroll) is going to sit in our ark with the normal scrolls."

Note: This is an excerpt from The Record-Journal. To read the entire article CLICK HERE

Clergy

The Rev. Charles Davidson

Vestry Members

Carol Anderson, Cyrus Aimey (Junior Warden), Veronica Airey-Wilson, Joyce Asiedu, Walter Benjamin (Senior Warden), Nora Brown, , Marie Brown-Harvey (Secretary), Patricia David, Evelyn Green, David Hickmon, Shannon Holder, Bates Lyons, Joe Noel, Peter Marsele, Terrie Thomas.

Music

Rochelle Holder - Youth Choir

Nathaniel Baker - Music Director/Organist

Rector Emeritus

Canon Cyril Burke

Email

monicahartford@gmail.com