MCJC Torah Scroll

by Mina Cohen

The MCJC Torah Scroll is particularly precious to us as it is a holocaust survivor. It is one of many torahs collected by the Nazis in Czechoslovakia, placed in a warehouse, and cataloged for the Nazi, "Museum of an Extinct Race" that they planned to create. Many years after World War II, these torahs and many other Jewish religious artifacts were discovered and taken to England where they were eventually given out to communities around the world. Because of the records kept by the Nazis themselves, we know that this torah was 100 years old at the time it was taken, making now around 150 years old. The torah has numbers tattooed on one of its "etzim" (rollers). This identifies it as the torah from the town of Sedlcany in Czechoslovakia. A few years ago Tom Wodetski, a resident of Mendocino traveled there, and reported that there is no longer any sign of a Jewish community there. We have chosen not to remove the torah's numbers, so that we will always remember what this torah represents, and how it survived. It is read every Shabbat morning and during many holidays.

(home) (calendar) (info) (articles) (sponsors) (links) (bios) (reviews) (travel) (recipes) (projects) (photos)