Rabbi’s Message – April 20, 2023
In 1942, over 350 synagogues in Bohemia and Moravia, were instructed to send their Sefrei Torot (Torah scrolls) and other ritual objects to be collected in Prague. What resulted was no less than an amazing story, testifying to the strength and endurance of our people. Over 1800 scrolls were sent to Prague where they were warehoused and lay seemingly forgotten until 1963. Through the efforts of what is now the Memorial Scrolls Trust (MST) over 1500 scrolls were brought to London to be restored. The year 2022 marked the 80th anniversary of the efforts by the Czech Jews to preserve these sacred texts and 2023 is the 60th anniversary of the MST.
This Sunday, I will be traveling with our own Czech Torah scroll to Cleveland, where it will join 18 other Czech scrolls that were preserved by the Memorial Scrolls Trust. These Torahs are coming from all over Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, and will be brought together at Temple Tifereth Israel for the first time in 60 years. (Watch the livestream of the service on Sunday at 1:00PM in the “sanctuary” portion on this page.)
Our Torah scroll is from the city of České Budějovice, (CHES-kuh BUD e-OH-vit-zeh). It is a large town on the Vltava (‘vǝltǝvǝ) River about 90 miles from Prague. It was once the capital of Southern Bohemia and part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire now in the Czech Republic. Jews had lived there since the 14th century. Before World War II, the synagogue was the center of Jewish life, but in June 1939 the congregation was closed down. Soon after, Jewish businesses and homes were confiscated and on April 18, 1942, 909 remaining Jewish individuals were deported to Theresienstadt. The Germans bombed the synagogue on June 5, 1942. By the end of the war, only 120 of the 1,500 Jews of České Budějovice were still alive. After World War II, the congregation was revived. Sadly, it ceased to function in 1970 because of a lack of members. In 1991, only one Jew, an elderly woman, remained in the town. Today, all that remains of the Jewish community is a stone monument to mark where the ornate Gothic synagogue, built in 1868, once stood. Our scroll is one of nine that comes from České Budějovice. Six scrolls, including ours, reside here in the United States, 1 in Canada, and 2 in England.
Our Czech Torah scroll was last read by our Confirmation students on June 5, 2022 on Shavuot. Exactly 80 years prior, the synagogue that once housed that scroll had been destroyed by the Nazis. Yet, the voices of our children continued to keep the words of Torah alive.
On Tuesday – Yom HaShoah – I shared the story of our Czech scroll when I spoke at the University of Dayton Lifelong Learning Institute. That very day, April 18, marked 81 years since the Jewish residents of České Budějovice had been deported to the death camps. Yet, we continued to tell its story.
Our scroll, written nearly 200 years ago, has long taught us of the genesis of the Jewish people, our exodus from slavery to freedom, and our march to the Promised Land. But, if we listen more closely, it also tells the stories of those from České Budějovice. It bears witness to the events of the Holocaust.
It also provides hope for the future.
This week we remember and give honor to those who once read from it. And soon, in a little over a month, we will once again hear those words of Torah spoken by our children, inspiring us through the words of the 10 Commandments and reminding us of the unending strength of the Jewish spirit.
Learn more about the people of České Budějovice in this interview with John Freund, a survivor of the town.