About Our Torah
Leo Baeck Temple is proud to be the home to one of 140 scrolls ( MST#642) that were sent to the Pinkas Synagogue in 1939 following the German invasion of Czechoslovakia and the closing of synagogues. Many communities in and around Prague sent their Torah to the Pinkas for safe-keeping, but unfortunately no records were kept giving the communities they came from, so the provenance is given as Praha - Pinkas.
The Pinkas Synagogue is a former Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in the Jewish Town of Prague, in the Czech Republic. Completed in 1535, the synagogue the second oldest surviving synagogue in Prague and was completed in the Gothic style. Its origins date from the 15th century and are connected with the Horowitz family, a renowned Jewish family in Prague. Today, the synagogue is administered by the Jewish Museum in Prague and commemorates approximately 80,000 Czech Jewish victims of The Shoah.
In November 2005, on the 67th anniversary of Kristallnacht, Leo Baeck Temple gathered with others California synagogues for the “Etz Chayim” reunion of 28 Czech survivor scrolls now being cared for by communities around Southern California.
About the Czech Torah Scrolls Trust
During the 1960s a group of dedicated Jews of the Westminster Synagogue in London. England formed a trust, “The Memorial Scrolls Trust” to rescue and restore these “forgotten” holy scrolls. Their mission was to offer them to living synagogues all over the world to preserve the chain of tradition.
The Czech Torah Network is an education organization dedicated to remembrance and Jewish spiritual continuity by connecting synagogues and religious institutions that have Czech Torah Scrolls. During the past 35 years, over 1,500 Czech Torahs have been rescued and distributed by the Czech Memorial Scrolls Centre of London, England. They are now on permanent loan throughout the world.
You can learn more about the Czech Torah Scroll and the Memorial Scrolls Trust at their official website: https://memorialscrollstrust.org/.
Leo Baeck Temple is proud to be the home to one of 140 scrolls ( MST#642) that were sent to the Pinkas Synagogue in 1939 following the German invasion of Czechoslovakia and the closing of synagogues. Many communities in and around Prague sent their Torah to the Pinkas for safe-keeping, but unfortunately no records were kept giving the communities they came from, so the provenance is given as Praha - Pinkas.
The Pinkas Synagogue is a former Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in the Jewish Town of Prague, in the Czech Republic. Completed in 1535, the synagogue the second oldest surviving synagogue in Prague and was completed in the Gothic style. Its origins date from the 15th century and are connected with the Horowitz family, a renowned Jewish family in Prague. Today, the synagogue is administered by the Jewish Museum in Prague and commemorates approximately 80,000 Czech Jewish victims of The Shoah.
In November 2005, on the 67th anniversary of Kristallnacht, Leo Baeck Temple gathered with others California synagogues for the “Etz Chayim” reunion of 28 Czech survivor scrolls now being cared for by communities around Southern California.
About the Czech Torah Scrolls Trust
During the 1960s a group of dedicated Jews of the Westminster Synagogue in London. England formed a trust, “The Memorial Scrolls Trust” to rescue and restore these “forgotten” holy scrolls. Their mission was to offer them to living synagogues all over the world to preserve the chain of tradition.
The Czech Torah Network is an education organization dedicated to remembrance and Jewish spiritual continuity by connecting synagogues and religious institutions that have Czech Torah Scrolls. During the past 35 years, over 1,500 Czech Torahs have been rescued and distributed by the Czech Memorial Scrolls Centre of London, England. They are now on permanent loan throughout the world.
You can learn more about the Czech Torah Scroll and the Memorial Scrolls Trust at their official website: https://memorialscrollstrust.org/.