Dear Temple Beth Am Family,

In September 1967, Temple Beth Am was given a precious gift – a Torah. This was no ordinary Torah. This Torah survived the Holocaust. This particular scroll was saved. It was rescued not by Jewish Partisans or Righteous Gentiles. No, this scroll and 1500 others were saved by the Nazis. Strange as the story might seem, it is a well documented fact that the Nazis, who came into Czechoslovakia, wished to save Jewish artifacts in order to display them in cases at a museum in Prague. The purpose of the museum was to present tangible proof of the power of the Nazi regime through revealing the “backward ways” of the peoples they had destroyed.

Through the grace of God and many people in the armed services, the Nazis were thwarted. Many Jewish artifacts were found in different repositories throughout Prague. Surprisingly, the Nazis placed the Torah scrolls in the basement of a synagogue. After the war, the Soviets controlled Prague which caused problems for the removal of the scrolls. Therefore, they sat in the basement. It was about 20 years before the Czech Memorial Scrolls Trust, an organization in England, would finally be able escort them out of Prague and into the West. The Trust set out to place each scroll with a congregation that cared enough to be a haven and a sacred place for these scrolls to heal and be a symbol of hope.

This Torah, this living soul, is now our responsibility. And it needs to be healed. Since welcoming our Torah, it has been used to a lesser and greater extent; however, it has always carried with it the damage now present. Sections of the parchment are torn, whole columns have faded, and letters have literally “popped off.” It is our symbol of hope, regardless of the hatred and destruction that may exist in the world. It is our hope.

Therefore, it is incumbent upon our community to heal this Torah. Whether you are a family with children who will eventually use this scroll at a future Bar or Bat Mitzvah or you are an “emptynester” who believes in the importance of continuing the memory of the Holocaust, we all need to participate.

The exact amount we need to raise is $42,500. With 200 families, this translates to each family giving a little over $200. Now, I realize that some families will not be able to give that much, but I also realize that others will be able to give a lot more. Whatever you can, please give. As one community, we can do this. My goal is not only to reach the dollar goal, but I would love to have every family participate in whatever way they can.

This is an exciting year and an exciting project. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us to heal a scroll as well as to have a direct, tangible impact on the Holocaust.

Please help us heal this Torah. Please help us heal our symbol of hope.

B'shalom,