Historically ‘priceless’ 18th century Sefer Torah on Antiques Roadshow

An 18th-century Torah scroll from a tiny seaside Jewish community is set to make its television debut this weekend.

The Sefer Torah from the 119-member Kehillat Kernow community in Cornwall features on Antiques Roadshow on BBC this Sunday, listed as a “local artefact of interest”.

Recorded last September at the county’s eco-attraction The Eden Project, the programme agrees that, from a religious and historic point of view, the scroll is priceless. The community’s website writes: ” Our little Scroll was treated like a VIP and we were all punch drunk with pride.”

In 1740 it was brought to Falmouth from Hamburg by Alexander Moses, known as Zender Falmouth. However, when the community closed one hundred and forty years later in 1880, it was offered to Hampstead Synagogue in London. They apparently sent it back due to the high costs of restoration.

Fast forward to 1892 and the scroll was presented to the Royal Institution in Cornwall; it stayed in the Royal Cornwall Museum until it was returned to the local community just nine years ago.

With the parchment torn and every letter needing work, it was painstakingly restored by Torah scribe Bernard Benarroch. It’s a ‘Vav’ scroll with 53 lines per column on a light, mashuach coated parchment.

Community chair Jeremy Jacobson is thrilled at the attention, saying: “It’s so fitting to picture the scroll here at the Eden Project. It’s a place created out of nothing to build relationships between people and the natural world. It’s the story of Creation.

“This Sefer Torah is very special for our community. It’s our most sacred possession since it connects us to the original Cornish Jewish community. We see it as a never ending renewal of the past, the continuity of our community here, and the positive relevance of the Torah to the future. It’s one of the things that makes Judaism what it is.”

Legend has it that Jews arrived in Cornwall over a thousand years ago. The county still has towns such as Marazion, which some say means ‘Jewish market’ in Cornish. And Penzance boasts Market Jew Street. Whilst the stories may be doubtful, it’s true that Jewish communities were established in the region in the 18th century.

The modern day Kehillat Kernow community (Kernow is the ancient word for Cornwall) came into being in 1999. Associated with the Movement for Reform Judaism, it holds fortnightly Shabbat services conducted by volunteers and students from Leo Baeck College.

• The Antiques Roadshow airs at 8pm on Sunday 11th June on BBC One and you can find out more about Cornwall’s Jewish community here.