Our Torah scrolls are at the very heart of who we are. Each one carries generations of history, resillience, and sacred tradition, connecting us to those who came before us and guiding us forward. Whether read from the bimah (altar or podium) or cared for behind the scense by a sofer (a scribe authorized to hand-copy sacred Hebrew texts, such as Torah scrolls and tefillin/phylactery*), these scrolls are not only cherished artifacts, but living symbols of the Jewish community’s enduring spirit.
Brno Holocaust Scroll
In 1942 members of Prague’s Jewish community devised a plan to preserve the material heritage of Bohemian and Moravian Jewry. They persuaded the Nazi Protectorate to collect over 100,000 ritual and heritage items in Prague’s (shuttered) Jewish Museum. Among the treasures were 1,800 Torah scrolls, which were moved and stored to a synagogue-cum-warehouse in the Michle district of Prague. The Jewish museum workers hoped that these treasures would be protected and might one day be returned to their original homes. The Nazis eventually deported all of the museum staff to the Theresienstadt Ghetto and then to Auschwitz. Only one survived. Thanks to the bravery and commitment of the museum’s Jewish staff, the 1,800 torah scrolls survived the war, after which they remained property of the Jewish museum—with the exception of about 200 scrolls which were distributed to the country’s newly reestablished Jewish communities. In 1950, the Czechoslovakia’s government nationalized the “State Jewish Museum and all of its holdings.” Learn more about this Torah scroll.
Stay tuned to learn more about our scrolls including our Sephardic scroll (#9442). It was purchased for TBT’s 10th anniversary(!), comes from a synagogue in Alexandria, Egypt, and was dedicated to the memory of Rabbi Shai Shacknai.
* either of two small, black leather cubes containing a piece of parchment inscribed with verses 4-9 of Deutoronomy 6, 13-21 of Deutoronomy 11, and 1-16 of Exodus 13;
one is attached with straps to the left arm and the other to the forehead during weekday morning prayers by Orthodox and Conservative Jewish men)