16th century Torah scroll that survived the Holocaust to be exhibited in Dubai
search

The latest Jewish News

Read this week’s digital edition

Click Here

16th century Torah scroll that survived the Holocaust to be exhibited in Dubai

This is the first time that one of the 1564 Czech scrolls has been allocated to a museum in the Arab and Islamic world.

TA Torah scroll saved in Czechoslovakia during the Holocaust. Credit: Memorial Scrolls Trust
TA Torah scroll saved in Czechoslovakia during the Holocaust. Credit: Memorial Scrolls Trust

A Torah scroll that survived the Holocaust will be unveiled at the memorial exhibit in Dubai.

This is the first time that one of the 1564 Czech scrolls has been allocated to a museum in the Arab and Islamic world.

The number 48272 was tattooed on the Etzim (scroll poles) when catalogued in Prague where it had been sent from Svetla Nad Sazavou in Bohemia. This was one of over 200,000 items shipped to Prague and that survived the Shoah.

After being stored in the ruined synagogue at Michle outside Prague for almost two decades, they were sent to the Westminster Synagogue in London in 1964, who created an independent charity, the Memorial Scrolls Trust to take care of them. Some 1400 of the scrolls have been allocated to synagogues and organisations across the world.

H.E. Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori, founder of the Crossroad of Civilizations Museum in Dubai, himself picked out the scroll at the Memorial Scrolls Trust in London along with the chairman of the trust.

“We  particularly chose a large scroll with very clear Hebrew writing so you could see it even from the back of the exhibition. It’s a scroll that makes  enormous impression,” Chairman of the Memorial Scrolls Trust, Jeffrey Ohrenstein, told Jewish News.

The number 48272 was tattooed on the Etzim (scroll poles) when catalogued in Prague where it had been sent from Svetla Nad Sazavou in Bohemia. This was one of over 200,000 items shipped to Prague and that survived the Shoah. Credit: Memorial Scrolls Trust

The event on Saturday is part of the museum’s commemoration of Holocaust Memorial day and will be attended by senior local and International dignitaries and addressed by the Israeli and German ambassadors .

“I feel very strongly that the Torah is the one thing that binds us all together. All faiths honour and respect Torah. And by having a scroll that survived the Shoah exhibited in a museum in Muslim country shows what is really possible. How people can be friends and respect each other. The museum reflects the diversity & tolerance of religions; personifying the legacy of Dubai and the UAE,” Ohrenstein added.

Credit: Memorial Scrolls Trust

Edwin Shuker, Vice President of the Board of deputies, will be attending the ceremony on Saturday.

“This Torah Scroll survived the darkest period in our history and will now occupy pride of place in this unique permanent exhibit in an Arab Muslim country with a thriving Jewish life,” he told Jewish News.

The event will commence at 8pm UAE time 4pm UK time. Livestream on  https://themuseum.ae/holocaust2023

Support your Jewish community. Support your Jewish News

Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.

For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.

Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.

You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.

100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...

Engaging

Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.

Celebrating

There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.

Pioneering

In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.

Campaigning

Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.

Easy access

In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.

Voice of our community to wider society

The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.

We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.

read more: