Torah For Life - The Story
The Holocaust Torah
The torah in this story is a surviving holocaust torah, written in Ashkenazi script, around one hundred years old. American soldiers discovered the torah buried in a cellar in Frankfurt, Germany. They rescued the scroll, and brought it to the United States. It was presented as a gift to Rabbi Meier Schimmel, who himself had escaped from Frankfurt in 1938. He founded Congregation Beth Meier in 1958, along with his wife and some friends, and became its first rabbi.
Although the historical torah has been kept in an ark at Congregation Beth Meier, it has not yet been restored. For my Bat Mitzvah project, I wanted to do something that would last, as well as help others in my community. I thought that helping to restore the holocaust torah would be a good idea to try and do both. The holocaust torah is amazing, if only for the fact that it is one of only a few surviving torahs from the holocaust. It means a lot to me that I have the chance to help regrow something this meaningful, that could touch the lives of so many people.
Although the historical torah has been kept in an ark at Congregation Beth Meier, it has not yet been restored. For my Bat Mitzvah project, I wanted to do something that would last, as well as help others in my community. I thought that helping to restore the holocaust torah would be a good idea to try and do both. The holocaust torah is amazing, if only for the fact that it is one of only a few surviving torahs from the holocaust. It means a lot to me that I have the chance to help regrow something this meaningful, that could touch the lives of so many people.
