Torah scroll finds home in Ukraine

Rare scroll saved from Hamburg synagogue that was burned during Crystalnacht
FJC

The Jewish Community of Dnepropetrovsk received a wonderful gift, a Torah scroll.

 

It was presented by a French citizen, Alain Grin, in the honor of President of the Jewish Community of Dnepropetrovsk Gennady Bogoliubov.

 

The Torah scroll was brought into the Synagogue of Beit Baruch Retirement Home on the seventh day after the holiday of Shavuot.

 

The story of this scroll is amazing: On Crystalnacht, synagogues in Germany were destroyed by fire, including one in Hamburg.

 

But one of its worshipers risked his life to save the Torah scroll from destruction. He brought it out of the synagogue wrapped in flames and then, for a long time, kept it buried.

 

After the war, he recovered the treasure and brought it to Israel. Even now, one can see the scorch of Crystalnacht on this scroll.

 

Thanks to Grin, this Torah scroll has now arrived at its new home in the Synagogue of Beit Baruch Retirement Home, the home of those who survived the horrors of the war.

 

Reprinted with permission of FJC