Introduction to the Service - 18th April 2009
At Finchley Progressive Synagogue we have, on long term loan, three Czech Scrolls. From: Kolodeje, Austerlitz-Slavkov and an Orphan Scroll. These scrolls were recovered after the Holocaust (Shoah) and are a witness to the life of communities which existed in Czechoslovakia before the war and the destruction that took place during it. The date of our service of rededication corresponds to the time when two of the communities were deported: Kolodeje and Austerlitz-Slavkov. The Jews of Austerlitz-Slavkov were deported to Terezin on transport Ah which left Brno on Saturday 4th April 1942 (17th Nisan 5702), which was the third day of Pesach. The Jews of Kolodeje were deported to Terezin on transport AKb which left Ceske Budejovice on Saturday 18th April 1942 (1st Iyyar 5702). The Torah portion which would have been read in between these two dates was Parashat Shemini. Today we also dedicate a new Torah binder for the Orphan Scroll, designed by Linda Gevertz. We have the original binder for the Austerlitz-Slavkov scroll, but not for the Orphan. This new binder wraps our community quite literally around the scroll.
The date for our dedication was chosen because it is the first Shabbat after Pesach which falls close to the dates of the deportation of both communities. It is also the Shabbat which immediately precedes Yom Hashoah – the day in the Hebrew calendar for remembering the Holocaust.
The value of the scrolls is immeasurable. As a community reads the Torah week to week, they are not just reading the story ‘out’ to the seated congregation. They also read their own history into the scroll. For example: when a Bar or Bat Mitzvah student reads from the Torah, the portion they have spent nearly a year learning becomes connected to them. It is also often the Rabbi’s job to find clever ways to weave the world outside into the Torah portion being read, whether it be in times of national emergency or great celebration. For example: when Yitzchak Rabin, the Prime-minister of Israel, was assassinated, the Torah portion which followed was Parashat Vayera – the portion when a different Yitzchak is taken by his father to be sacrificed. The Torah is not just ‘a text’. It is a living testimony to the attempts by Jews throughout all generations to understand their relationship to God and the world around them.
Therefore, when a community is deported, murdered and destroyed, if the Sefer Torah is saved it becomes a living testimony to the destruction. Furthermore, when it is read and used, it becomes a symbol of resilience and hope for the future.
A Jewish visitor to our world today from just 70 years ago, would find it unrecognisable – in terms of the progress. I suspect they would find the continuing problems unremarkable save that we are so advanced yet unable to solve problems of poverty, ill health and oppression. However, coming to synagogue today they would see once again that the Torah is being read, debated and made relevant and that Jews and non-Jews are living in communities, supporting one another and working for the betterment of the world. These three Sifrei Torah are a beacon of hope, a reminder to our community and a message to the humanity. They tell us that human beings are capable of inflicting the most unimaginable horror and devastation. Yet, human beings are also able to pursue righteousness, justice, peace and truth even within the darkest hours. In a paraphrase of the words of Pirkei Avot (Teachings of the Sages): The task is, as yet, unfinished and though it may not be our duty to complete it, we are not at liberty to desist from it.
Rabbi Neil Janes
