Historic Torah dedicated aboard US aircraft carrier
Lithuanian Torah that survived Holocaust is dedicated aboard US aircraft carrier Harry S Truman
A Torah from Lithuania that survived the Holocaust has a home on the US aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman.
The carrier is one of the few Navy vessels to have its own Torah.
Few ships are large enough to need one, said Sam Werbel, an organizer of a dedication ceremony Sunday whose audience included Holocaust survivors.
"This is not a ceremony alone," said Mark E. Talisman, founder and president of the Project Judaica Foundation. "It's about humanity or a lack thereof. It's about all of us understanding the dignity of human life."
Several Jewish service members celebrated the event, taking photos with the heavy 26-inch (66-centimeter) high religious scroll bearing the words of the Old Testament, The Virginian-Pilot reported in its Monday editions.
About 5 percent or less of Lithuania's Jewish population survived the Holocaust. No religious artifacts, other than this Torah, are thought to remain of that country's Jewish population, organizers said.
Another Torah, given by Israel's first president, Chaim Weizmann, to President Truman after he recognized Israel diplomatically in 1948, was on loan to the carrier and displayed next to the Torah that was dedicated Sunday, The Virginian-Pilot reported Monday.
Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, attended Sunday's dedication. He said Truman's namesake carrier was a fitting home for a Torah that would help service members "grow in their appreciation of our Jewish faith."
