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World Jewish News
"Svoboda" radio station: Lvov Archive Returned 14 Fragments of the Torah to the Jewish Community
24.03.2009
The Central State Historical Archive of Lvov has returned to the Jewish community 14 pieces of the Book of Law, the most important of the three parts of the Jewish «Book of Books» - the Torah. They are not eligible for restoration and do not have any historic value. But for Jews, the burial of these Torahs is of great importance.
As reported by "Svoboda" radio station, 4 more regional archives of Ukraine, which keep the Torahs, will soon return these books of law for burial, according to the Presidential Decree of 2007. According to the decree, the Cabinet of Ministers should ensure that the Torah scrolls are handed to the Jewish religious communities, respecting the rights of citizens on freedom of thought and religion.
For example, if the Torah of a religious community falls to the floor, the entire community must adhere to a post for 40 days. So righteous is the attitude to the Torah - the book of the law, the most important of the three parts of the Jewish "Book of Books." It consists of the first five books of the Old Testament, Pentateuch of Moses, and tells about the creation of the world, as well as history of the Jewish people until its arrival in the Land of Israel.
The Torah contains the laws under which the Jewish people live. Every Saturday the Torah is read in synagogues, and the day on which the annual cycle of readings ends - "Simchat Torah," which means the joy of the Torah, is considered the beginning of a new cycle.
The Torah is written on parchment only. Paragraphs, the number of sheets and lines in all Torahs are equal.
The Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Lvov keeps 131 fragments of the Torah scrolls, among them there is one complete scroll. The time they were written is unknown. But according to memories of witnesses, in the 1940 the Torahs were removed from one of Lvov synagogues and distributed between the archive, museum and library.
14 fragments of the Torah, passed by the Lvov archive to the Rabbi Mordechai Shlomo Bold, will soon be buried. According to the Rabbi, these Torahs are dead since their restoration is unrealistic. They had the same fate as the millions of Jews tortured during the Second World War. The Rabbi explained why the Torahs must be buried: "For the very reason that you need to bury a man. Because these Torahs are already dead. They are destroyed, lack letters, the parchment is torn. We need to bury them, to pay tribute, because they were sacred for those who are no longer alive. God created a human, and he dies, and is buried, and the same happens to the Torah."
Before returning the Torah fragments, they were thoroughly studied. They have no historical value, said the Head of the department of information documents of the State Archive of Ukraine in Lvov, Igor Smolsky: "We return the fragments that are not amenable to restoration. They do not have any historical and cultural value. They need to be treated differently than the archival materials."
The Torahs will be buried on a Jewish cemetery with the same ceremony as the person given the last honours.
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