CARLSBAD, California — Don Harrison, publisher of San Diego Jewish World, put out a request for a picture of our favorite Judaica item. I immediately knew what item I would pose in front of for my picture. I asked Don for the honor of sharing the story of Chabad at La Costa’s Holocaust Torah, which he graciously granted.
Following is that story.
On the Shabbos immediately following September 11th, 2001, a wonderful friend and supporter of Chabad at La Costa, Mr. Ed Richard (may he live and be well!), was called to the Torah for an Aliyah. Following the reading when we recite a special blessing for the person called up he told me he wanted to donate a Torah to our synagogue.
To understand the significance of that pledge one must appreciate the preciousness of a Torah scroll – the extraordinary value placed upon the Torah – and the tremendous amount of time and artful skill that a certified scribe (Sofer), puts into writing one. To dedicate a Torah is a very big deal.
A couple of months later we held a joyous ceremony welcoming our new addition. We mustered all of the pomp and circumstance appropriate for such a meaningful occasion and our new Torah found its home in our synagogue.
But this story is not about that Torah.
Ed was understandably deeply moved by the dedication ceremony, and profoundly touched when he saw us using the Torah that he had donated in loving memory of his amazing parents. And so, a few years later, when Ed had an Aliyah, and when we made the blessing for him following his Aliyah, he whispered to me, “I want to donate another Torah.” “What?!” I exclaimed. I was sure I must have misheard. NOBODY donates two Torahs!
During the Kiddush, the meal we enjoy together as a community after Shabbat services, Ed explained, “This time I want to donate a Holocaust Torah to our community.” “Please look out for a Torah that survived the Holocaust, but it must still be usable, I don’t want this Torah in a display case.”
I was inspired and started looking. However, I quickly found out that it isn’t so simple to find Torahs that survived the Holocaust that are in good enough shape to actually use. As an aside, if a Torah is damaged, for instance if even one letter is cracked or rubbed out, the entire Torah is considered ‘Passul’, which means it cannot be used unless and until it can be fixed. Often times Holocaust Torahs were damaged beyond repair.
A very short time after receiving this mandate and putting my ear to the ground I received an email which had been circulated around the county, from a gentleman who lived in Chula Vista (about 45 miles south of where I live in Carlsbad) that said he had a Torah that had survived the Holocaust that he wanted to sell. I told Ed about the email and he asked, “What are you waiting for!?” I headed south, through a driving rainstorm that I will never forget, so that I could meet this gentleman and look at the Torah.
Mr. “Cohen” lived in a small apartment and kept the Torah in a breakfront in his bedroom. He explained that his parents used to visit Europe regularly and enjoyed being there during the High Holidays. One year they bought a Torah that had survived the Holocaust and brought it back with them to the States, and here was that Torah. I asked if I could look at the Torah and we opened it up. It so happens that we opened it to the portion that includes the Song of Moses that the Children of Israel sang after successfully crossing the Red Sea. That particular portion is written in a very unique way in that the column is split; an anomaly that only occurs a couple of times in the whole Torah. And then I noted the extraordinary additional flourishes in the writing – something I had never seen or even heard of before. It was a gorgeous work of art. I gasped when I saw it (and still do when we use it on special occasions)!
I asked Mr. Cohen if I could have the scroll inspected by a certified scribe, so he could ascertain if it was usable or not, and he readily agreed. The scribe told me that the Torah I found was a couple hundred, or perhaps a few hundred years old, and that the additional flourishes were of Kabbalistic origin, something which modern scribes no longer do, due to the time involved. Remember: time equals money. He said the scroll needed some repairs but that yes, it was usable.
I went back to Mr. “Cohen” and we agreed upon a price. I asked at that point if Mr. “Cohen” would please tell me everything he knew about our new Torah.
Get ready for it…
He again told me about how his parents enjoyed going to Europe, and that this particular Torah was saved by the Gabbai (caretaker) of the synagogue who buried it under the basement of his house. Miraculously it was found after the war and it sustained relatively minor damage despite having been hidden in such a moist environment. I asked if he knew specifically where in Europe this particular synagogue was located and he told me then that the Torah came from Karlsbad, Czechoslovakia! The hair on my head stood up! We had found a Torah from Karlsbad that was coming home to Carlsbad! In fact Carlsbad, California is named after Karlsbad, Czechoslovakia, because of the similarity of the mineral water found in each place.
Stories like this make me realize that there is a G-d in the world and that nothing is random.
And so on very special occasions, like when we read the Song of Moses, we take out our Torah from Karlsbad and we read it in Carlsbad. We realize that we survived the tragic past and now we are very busy building a bright and beautiful future!
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Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort is Director of Coastal Chabads and Chabad at La Costa. Rabbi Eilfort welcomes readers’ comments and questions and may be reached at RabbiE@ChabadatLaCosta.com.