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ICCJ is privileged to be home to Sefer Torah number 896, one of the 1564 Czech Memorial Sifré Torah which constituted part of the treasures looted by the Nazis during the Holocaust, from the desolated Jewish communities of Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia, and which had been cared for by the Czechoslovak Government for many years. These Torah scrolls were acquired, with the good-will of the Czechoslovak Government, for Westminster Synagogue, where they arrived on the 7th of February 1964.
Some of the collection remain at Westminster Synagogue, a permanent memorial to the martyrs from whose synagogues they come. Many of them are distributed throughout the world, to be memorials everywhere to the Jewish tragedy and to spread light as harbingers of future co-existence on Earth.
All of them bear witness to the glory of the holy Name.
Our scroll, #896, came from the town of Dobris and was written in the 19th century.
To read more about the Czech Memorial Torahs, click here and here.
In this recorded Zoom presentation, Lois Roman, docent of the Memorial Scrolls Trust, teaches about the history of our scroll. Jan 29, 2023.
At our Lunch and Learn, Feb 9, 2023, Rabbi Hillel took us on a ‘tour’ of our Czech Torah scroll, from the beginning to the end. Watch this fascinating recording!
