Memorial Scrolls Trust Holocaust Torah

Har Zion Temple is privileged to have in our possession many Torah scrolls of significance to our community. But perhaps there is none as meaningful as the scroll that lives in a glass case in our main lobby. This Torah scroll is from the city of Tabor in South Bohemia in the Czech Republic, about 60 miles south of Prague. Written towards the end of the 19th century, it is one of a number of scrolls collected by the Nazis as part of their plan to create a “museum of artifacts of the extinct race of Jews”. After the war they were placed in a warehouse in Prague later to be moved to the Westminster Synagogue in London, England for repairs and restoration. The synagogue then distributed them for permanent display in Jewish Communities around the world.

Har Zion’s scroll is Memorial Scrolls Trust #850. It is our tribute to the continuing strength of Judaism and the Jewish people following the horrors of the Shoah. Though mostly a display piece, the Torah is used ceremonially on Kol Nidre, at Yizkor and during the installation of new synagogue officers. Thus symbolically this Torah will be part of our reverent remembrance of the past and our joyous prayers and expectations for the future.

Please follow this link to learn more about the Memorial Scrolls Trust http://www.memorialscrollstrust.org