Czech Scroll Celebration

Sunday, April 23, 2023, 1:00PM
The Temple-Tifereth Israel
26000 Shaker Boulevard
Beachwood, OH 44122

We invite the congregation and community to celebrate the remarkable legacy of these sacred scrolls!

In 1942, Dr. Stein of the Juische Kiltusgemeinde in Prague, reached out to the over 350 synagogues in Bohemia and Moravia, instructing them to send their Sefrei Torot 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 be the Czech Jews to preserve these sacred texts and 2023 is the 60th anniversary of the MST.

Congregations around the country are invited to bring their scrolls to The Temple for this special reunion. The Temple is honored to be the custodians of three of these scrolls. Each scroll will be called to the bimah by its community name with a representative from each organization. Lines of Torah will be read in memory of the Jews from Czechosolovakia who perished, and in honor of those who survived.

Dr. Mark Cole from Cleveland State University will speak on the Holocaust and the impact of it for future generations. Lois Roman, a member of the Memorial Scrolls Trust, and Holocaust Survivor Erika Gold, will be in attendance as well.

Click here for more information on the remarkable history of the Czech Scrolls and how The Temple-Tifereth Israel became the custodian of three Memorial Scrolls.