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A 300-year-old Torah scroll that survived the Holocaust finds a new home in NYC
A Torah scroll believed to date from around 1700 was rededicated at B’nai Jeshurun synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, where hundreds welcomed it on the anniversary of Kristallnacht. Its new home is intended to honour Jewish history and affirm the scroll’s continued role in religious life amid concerns about antisemitism.
The scroll survived Nazi rule and was among Torahs gathered in Prague from Jewish communities destroyed during the Second World War. After decades in a damp synagogue, philanthropist Ralph Yablon acquired 1,564 scrolls from the Czech-Slovakian government in 1964 and brought them to London; this scroll was later restored by the Memorial Scrolls Trust. The ceremony marked the completion of its restoration and journey.
In short
- A 300-year-old Torah has a new home in Manhattan.
- It survived the Holocaust and years of neglect.
- Its rededication took place on Kristallnacht’s anniversary.
Explained simply
A Torah scroll contains the Hebrew text of the first five books of the Bible and is read aloud during Jewish worship. Scrolls are often kept in synagogues and treated with care as both religious objects and records of a community’s history.
During the Second World War, Nazi authorities took Torah scrolls from Jewish communities across Europe, many of which were destroyed in the Holocaust. A collection of scrolls gathered in Prague survived, and in 1964 the Czech-Slovakian government transferred 1,564 of them to philanthropist Ralph Yablon, who brought them to London.
The Memorial Scrolls Trust has since cared for and restored scrolls from that collection, placing them with Jewish communities. Their use in worship connects present-day congregations with communities lost in the Holocaust and with the history carried by each scroll.