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Photo: Reuters
Torah scroll (illustration)
Photo: Reuters

Historic Torah scroll returned to UK Jews

One of four scrolls kept in Royal Cornwall Museum for over 120 years given back to Jewish community.

One of four Torah scrolls that had been kept in the Royal Cornwall Museum for over 120 years has been given to the Jewish community of Cornwall.

  

 

On behalf of the museum, the Duke of Gloucester returned the centuries-old scroll in a ceremony last week.

 

Kept in the British museum since 1892, the Torah scroll had been repaired and returned to Kehillat Kernow, the Jewish community of Cornwall.

 

According to reports from the BBC, the Royal Cornwall Museum came into possession of this scroll after the closing of the Falmouth Synagogue.

 

Approved in March 2013 following a formal request from leaders of Kehillat Kernow, the scroll's return was secured by the trustees of The Royal Institution of Cornwall. Trustees also sought the advice of the Museum's Association ethics committee.

 

In a BBC report, Kehillat Kernow chairman Harvey Kurzfield said: "It is going to be used in a living, vibrant Jewish community 350 years after it was first used in a Jewish community... To think that it has now come back into use is a great link with the past."

 

Last week, the Duke of Gloucester returned the restored scroll after more than 100 years.

 

It is believed that this document is the first kosher Torah scroll in England to be given back by a museum.

 

Reprinted with permission from Shalom Life

 


פרסום ראשון: 06.04.14, 15:56
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