Czech Torah Rescued During Holocaust Finds Permanent Home in Danville

A Torah scroll, or sefer Torah, is a precious and sacred object that represents living history in Judaism.

in Danville discovered two years ago that one of its two Torah scrolls carried an added dimension of history they had been unaware of—it was a missing scroll, part of a collection that had been rescued in Czechoslovakia during the Holocaust.

After verifying its origin and securing special permission to keep it, the congregation recently gathered in February to rededicate the Torah scroll into the synagogue. 

“A Torah is at the center of any synagogue,” says Rabbi Chaya Gusfield of Beth Chaim Congregation. “It provides a connection between the past and the future.”

Sefer Torahs are meticulously handwritten copies of the Torah, the holiest text in Judaism.  

Produced to exacting standards, and under very strict conditions, they contain 304,805 letters, have no punctuation marks, and can take up to a year and a half for a scribe to complete.

Torah scrolls are typically read, sung, or chanted during morning services, and on special occasions, such as at Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, and on high holy days.

It was when the larger of Beth Chaim’s scrolls needed some repairs that a two-year journey to discover its special historical significance began.

“We had the Torah for awhile, but we didn’t have the story,” says Rabbi Gusfield.

According to Rabbi Dan Goldblatt, the congregation did know that the scrolls, which had come to them when another congregation in Walnut Creek had dissolved, had been saved from destruction during the Holocaust, and had been discovered following Word War II.

They had no official documentation, however.

When an orthodox Jewish scribe from Los Angeles, Moshe Druin, traveled to Danville to perform the needed repair work, he immediately recognized that the scroll was part of the Czech Memorial Scrolls Trust.

During World War II over 100,000 Jewish ritual and cultural treasures were gathered, catalogued, and housed in the Central Jewish Museum in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

It is not known why the items were saved.

In 1956 hundreds of Torah scrolls were consolidated from various locations to the Michle Synagogue in Prague.

According to Michael Heppner, Research Director for the Czech Memorial Scrolls Trust, the scrolls “came from the large Prague Jewish community, and from many smaller communities that were scattered." 

The scrolls remained as museum relics until the 1960s when an American art dealer, Eric Estorick, was instrumental in purchasing over 1,500 Torah scrolls from the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, and brought them to London in 1964.

The scrolls were sorted and catalogued and distributed to Jewish congregations across the world by the Memorial Scrolls Trust, established for the purpose.

Trying to pin down the history of the Beth Chaim’s scroll, Rabbi Dan Goldblatt discovered in his research and correspondence with the Czech Memorial Trust that the scroll was No. 266, which had been granted at some point to a small Jewish congregation in Walnut Creek, but had been declared "missing."

When that congregation dissolved, they were supposed to return the Torah scroll to the trust.

Instead, some members that became charter members of Beth Chaim brought the Torah scroll with them.

Assured of its place of honor in the life of the synagogue, the trust officially designated scroll No. 266 on “permanent loan” to Beth Chaim Congregation, and provided an official plaque and documentation, and on Feb. 26 the Torah scroll was rededicated.

In addition to learning its unique connection to the Holocaust, the scribe also told them that the scroll featured the distinctive “scribal signature” of a prominent 17th century scribal school of the late 16th century Jewish Mystic Chief Rabbi of Prague—Judah Loew ben Bezalel —who was said to have created the Golem to defend the Jews of Prague.

The dedication of a Torah scroll, and the sharing of its rich history was an occasion for great celebration at Beth Chaim Congregation.

Rabbi Gusfield says over 100 people attended the celebration that included music.

According to Rabbi Gusfield, the key highlight of the “very, very exciting night” was when Rabbi Goldblatt told the scroll’s history, officially correcting the oral history of its origins that will be handed down through the generations to come.

Discovering the scroll’s origins has been “quite meaningful,” she says, and has “unified” the congregation.

The congregation feels an “awesome responsibility,” she says.

“We understand that we have a responsibility to carry on its tradition,” says Rabbi Gusfield.

“We have been entrusted by the past to carry on the stories to the future—their legacy lives on through us.”

Rabbi Gusfield  says the public is welcome to visit Beth Chaim Congregation to view the Torah scroll. For more information contact the synagogue at (925) 736-7146.

 Beth Chaim Congregation is at 1800 Holbrook Dr. in Danville.