logo
Google Play App Store
Log In subscribe and/or renew Eeditions
  • Home
  • E-Edition
    • This Week Newspaper
    • Archives
    • Local Shops
    • This is Westfield
    • Search the Archives
  • News
  • Opinions
  • Sports
  • Community
    • Life Events
    • Community Calendar
  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Obituaries
    • Submit an Obituary
  • Classified
  • Legals
  • Advertise
    • Advertorial
    • Paid Political
    • Sponsored Content
  • subscribe and/or renew
  • Contact
    • Home
    • E-Edition
      • This Week Newspaper
      • Archives
      • Local Shops
      • This is Westfield
      • Search the Archives
    • News
    • Opinions
    • Sports
    • Community
      • Life Events
      • Community Calendar
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • Obituaries
      • Submit an Obituary
    • Classified
    • Legals
    • Advertise
      • Advertorial
      • Paid Political
      • Sponsored Content
    • subscribe and/or renew
    • Contact
  • Home
  • E-Edition
    • This Week Newspaper
    • Archives
    • Local Shops
    • This is Westfield
    • Search the Archives
  • News
  • Opinions
  • Sports
  • Community
    • Life Events
    • Community Calendar
  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Obituaries
    • Submit an Obituary
  • Classified
  • Legals
  • Advertise
    • Advertorial
    • Paid Political
    • Sponsored Content
  • subscribe and/or renew
  • Contact
    • Home
    • E-Edition
      • This Week Newspaper
      • Archives
      • Local Shops
      • This is Westfield
      • Search the Archives
    • News
    • Opinions
    • Sports
    • Community
      • Life Events
      • Community Calendar
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • Obituaries
      • Submit an Obituary
    • Classified
    • Legals
    • Advertise
      • Advertorial
      • Paid Political
      • Sponsored Content
    • subscribe and/or renew
    • Contact
Holocaust Torah Scroll Travels to London
SYMBOL OF RESILIENCE...Sofer Neil Yerman, pictured, carries Temple Sholom’s Torah scroll during a recent visit to London for the commemoration honoring the 60th anniversary of the Westminster Scrolls Trust. The sacred scroll is among those that were found in a barn in Czechoslovakia after the Holocaust. The Westminster Scrolls Trust repaired and restored the scrolls, which have since found homes around the globe as living memorials.
Community
February 22, 2024
Holocaust Torah Scroll Travels to London

SCOTCH PLAINS — In the 1960s, more than 1,500 Torah scrolls were found in a barn in Czechoslovakia. These scrolls — the first five books of the Bible, written by speciallytrained scribes — had been gathered and stored after the Nazis destroyed the Jewish communities of Bohemia, Moravia, and the surrounding areas, and their synagogues. These scrolls were rescued and sent to London, England, where the Westminster Scrolls Trust repaired and restored them, and loaned them as living memorials to Jewish communities all over the world. This year, the Trust celebrated its 60th anniversary, and Temple Sholom’s scroll — number 636 — traveled to London for the commemoration.

Acquired in 1976, Temple Sholom’s scroll comes from the town of Vlasim in what is now Czechia, about 45 kilometers southeast of the capital, Prague. As the temple’s Confirmation class travels to Central Europe, and often to Prague, to learn about Jewish history — in both ancient and modern times — it has become the practice of the congregation to read from this Torah scroll on the holiday of Shavuot, as the class marks its Confirmation. The traditional text is the Ten Commandments.

Recently, celebrating her adult Confirmation, long-time Temple Sholom member Ellen Berman sponsored the restoration of this section of the scroll, by Sofer (Torah scribe) Neil Yerman. The scroll has a cover which says zachor (remember) in Hebrew and has pictures of the town of Vlasim from before World War II. The pictures were found by Ms. Berman and the cover was made by former Temple President Sandra Nussenfeld.

When the temple learned of this commemoration, it planned to send a delegation, along with its Torah scroll. However, when the delegation leader could not attend, Ms. Berman helped to send Mr. Yerman. Meanwhile, Ms. Berman sponsored a watch party for a live viewing of the commemoration as the temple’s Religious School day began at 9 a.m. on February 4. Each class stopped by, got to see Sofer Yerman on screen with the temple’s Torah, and enjoyed treats representing traditional fruits and vegetables grown in the Land of Israel, as well as Torah-shaped treats.

With the return of the scroll, Sofer Yerman will speak to the congregation about the experience of the commemoration and his work with the Torah.Another celebration is planned in New York City inApril, and temple member Andrew Breit, chair of Temple Sholom’s Holocaust Commemoration Committee, plans to attend with the temple’s scroll.

Temple Sholom, located at 1925 LakeAvenue, Scotch Plains, is a member of the Union for Reform Judaism. For more information about the congregation, visit the temple website, www.sholomnj.org.

ePaper
coogle_play
app_store
ePaper
coogle_play
app_store
Most Read
Fanwood Residents Plan Legal Action Against South Ave. Development
Main, News
Fanwood Residents Plan Legal Action Against South Ave. Development
By KATIE MOEN and FRED T.ROSSI 
Thursday, September 4, 2025
FANWOOD — A group of Fanwood residents concerned with overdevelopment are banding together in hopes of securing the necessary legal funds to challenge...
this is a test
Westfield’s Forgotten History: Remembering Columbus Elementary
News, Opinions
Westfield’s Forgotten History: Remembering Columbus Elementary
By Loganathan Hargreaves WHS Class of ?28 
Thursday, September 4, 2025
I am an upcoming 10th grader at Westfield High School, and I was fortunate to attend the Vanishing Westfield Neighborhoods: The African American Exper...
this is a test
Main
Westfield Gears Up For Busy Election Season
By KATIE MOEN 
Friday, September 5, 2025
WESTFIELD — Westfield residents will be faced with a full ballot when they head to the polls this November. Eight candidates - four Republicans and fo...
this is a test
Rosanne G. Potter
Obituaries
Rosanne G. Potter
Thursday, September 11, 2025
Rosanne G. Potter Died at Home On Friday, August 29 Rosanne was born in Elizabeth, NJ, on October 4, 1941, the only child of Harry Giuditta, a banker,...
this is a test
Main, News
1958 Cuban Cuisine Reopens Following Mandated Closure
By KATIE MOEN 
Thursday, September 11, 2025
WESTFIELD — 1958 Cuban Cuisine, a Westfield restaurant that was cited for unsanitary conditions last month, has reopened with a satisfactory rating af...
this is a test
This site complies with ADA requirements

© Copyright The The Westfield Leader

  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility Policy
This site complies with ADA requirements

© Copyright The The Westfield Leader