SYMBOL OF FAITH

New display case dedicated for Holocaust Torah

The Torah from the Memorial Scrolls Trust in England has exquisite workmanship.

By LINDA M. LINONIS

Vindicator Religion Editor

BOARDMAN — Scroll No. 58, one of 1,564 rescued Holocaust Torahs, is on permanent loan to Congregation Ohev Tzedek from the Memorial Scrolls Trust at Westminster Synagogue in London, England.

On Friday, the synagogue dedicated a new display case for the Torah and recognized the family who donated this symbol of faith.

Rabbi Berman said the scroll was obtained some years ago through a gift from Gertrude and Henry Levy and their children. (Henry is now deceased.) A congregational dinner also took place.

The rabbi said the scroll had been placed in the highest position in Ohev Tzedek’s ark with other Torahs. But various circumstances delayed the display case until now. Congregant Art Einzig designed the case, which was built by Dean Wellendorf.

Rabbi Berman said he felt this week was especially appropriate for the dedication of the display case and recognition of this 300-year-old Torah. Yom HaShoah, the day when Jews around the world remember those who died in the Holocaust, was observed April 21 this year. Yom HaShoah begins a series of modern-day holidays in Israel and for Jews around the world.

Rabbi Berman, who lived in Israel for years, said, “This past Tuesday was Yom HaZikaron, Israeli Memorial Day, when Isarel remembers fallen soldiers. Sirens rang out over Israel and everyone came to a standstill to remember fallen soldiers and victims of the War of Independence. Traffic stopped, even on the freeway, and people all over stood quietly for the two-minute siren,” he said.

Jewish days begin at sundown, the rabbi said, and when the sun set Tuesday, Yom HaAtzma’ut, Israeli Independence Day, was ushered in and continued into Wednesday. “There’s a palpable change in atmosphere,” he said. “Wednesday is a real celebration of independence. Because of the proximity of the days, there’s a heightened awareness of the price paid for independence.”

He said this Holocaust Torah also represents independence ... from captivity and destruction. “This scroll came from Lostice, Czechoslovakia,” he said. “It is believed that Hitler was gathering Torahs to be put in a put in a museum for the defunct Jewish race,” he said.

Rabbi Berman said this Torah, which has smoke damage, was among scrolls saved by Allied soldiers. Some scrolls nearly went up in smoke ... “to be burned like the Jews,” Rabbi Berman said. “Having such a scroll stands in defiance of [Hitler’s] will.”

Rabbi Berman said he understood that the scrolls were first stored in Prague, Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic, then moved to the Memorial Scrolls Trust in England. The trust makes arrangements to place the scrolls in synagogues around the world.

Rabbi Berman relayed this story of how scroll No. 58 came to Ohev Tzede, which he talked about during the dedication. He said Erica Post Rabb, a congregant, happened to be in London when the synagogue was making arrangements for the Levy family’s gift of the scroll. She visited the Trust and selected the scroll for the Boardman congregation. She told Rabbi Berman that it was a “big thrill” and she felt “so connected to our people.”

Rabbi Berman also contacted Rabbi Mitchell Kornspan, former leader of Ohev Tzedek, about the dedication. In an e-mail, Rabbi Kornspan wrote, “I remember it came to us in a wooden crate and we reverently unpacked it.” And he continued, “I recall how, in showing the Torah to a group, I opened it to a certain spot, and you could still smell the smoke ...”

Rabbi Berman also acknowledged the efforts of Sandy Kessler, temple president at the time; Mitch Cohn, head of the house committee who picked up the crate at Cleveland Airport; Shari Della Penna, head of the scroll committee; and Florine Rusnak, temple secretary.

Though this Torah scroll is valued for its history and religious significance, Rabbi Berman said the scroll is “not kosher, that is, it is marred.” Portions are worn out and unreadable. And, because it is some 300 years old, rolling and unrolling the scroll to use in services would lead to further damage. “Using it involves wear and tear on it,” he said.

“It is too damaged to be restored. But this workmanship is exquisite,” Rabbi Berman said.

He said scribes who craft a Torah must know every letter and symbol perfectly. The labor to produce a Torah takes about a year, and the materials are all natural.

He explained that the Torah contains the first five books of the Bible, known as the Pentateuch. The Torah, the basis of Jewish tradition and law, are the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In Hebrew, they are Bereshit, Shemot, Vayikra, Bemidbar and Devarim, the first significant Hebrew words in the books.

The Holocaust Torah, like all Torahs, is written on parchment, Rabbi Berman explained. The very thin leather was tanned and cured for this purpose. The ink also is natural, most likely derived from berries.

“Jewish life revolves around what is in the Torah. It is the blueprint for a good, religious and healthy life,” he said.

In the display case, the Holocaust Torah will be opened to Leviticus. Chapter 18. The damage is severe in this part. There are two significant points to this, related to when this passage is publicly read from the scroll, the rabbi said. This section is read in the afternoon of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. This indicates that the Nazis may have interrupted the religious service at that time and seized the scroll just as Jews prepared to enter the final prayers for that day, he said. The second point is that it also is the section read this morning as the designated reading for this date. “The coincidence was too much. We had to dedicate it now,” said Rabbi Berman.

Suggestions for verses written on the cases are hopeful indications from the Torah that survival is promised, even when times are incredibly difficult. They include Leviticus 26:44, “Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them or abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God” and Isaiah 54:7, “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will gather you.”