CZECH TORAH SCROLLS PROJECT
Custom Expeditions To The Places Of Origin Of Your Czech Torah Scroll
JExpeditions in conjuncture with many local partners in the Czech Republic has developed this unique program of Tikkun Olam, education and travel encompassing the revival of the rescued Torah scrolls from Bohemia and Moravia with a symbolic return to their “home towns”.
Not only have congregations adopted the rescued scrolls, but they are in regular use on Sabbath and holidays. Each time a Czech scroll is used is an act of remembrance of the original communities and the Jews that perished during the Shoah. To this day, the lucky congregations that have one of these scrolls continue to share the story of the Czech Torah scrolls and the history and people from which their scroll came.
Many Jews believe that a person dies twice. The first time physically and the second if he is forgotten. The rescued Czech Torah Scrolls are a monument to those who read from them and who cherish them. Let us not allow them to be forgotten. Let us memorialize them and have them serve as a bridge to the future that we are building and after which we will walk together as we practice the act of Tikkun olam.
We have created this program as a very special opportunity for congregations and their members to partake on truly once-in-a-lifetime journey. Many organizations use this as a special fundraiser for their community and a truly unique opportunity to create a physical and spiritual connection to the past and present.
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OUR MISSION
The Talmud teaches us that a person dies twice. The first time physically. The second time if he or she is forgotten. The rescued Czech Torah Scrolls are a monument to those who read from them, who learned from them, who sought wisdom and understanding in them. Who cherished and took inspiration from them. The Torah, the holy object of Judaism, is the written experience of the Jewish nation.
But Czech Torahs from the Holocaust period have an additional meaning. They are the miraculously saved legacy of Bohemian and Moravian Jews who were murdered during the devastation of the Shoah. So let us not allow the victims to be forgotten but – through the holy scrolls – remember their stories.
These Torahs scrolls are not merely a tragic and wonderful legacy in one – they are above all proof that Hitler and his like will never succeed in their efforts to wipe out the Jewish nation. These Torah scrolls are a bridge to the future that we are building and after which we will walk together on the road to the repair of the world – tikkun olam.
The Story of the Czech Torah Scrolls
Message of hope, continuity and resilience
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Prior to World War II almost 400,000 Jewish citizens lived in Czechoslovakia including 125,000 in Bohemia and Moravia. Jews lived in roughly 153 communities, each of which had at least one Torah scroll. However, in many cities, town and villages where there were large Jewish populations and multiple synagogues, there would have been more than one Torah scroll.
For reasons known only to the Nazis, almost 1800 Torah scrolls and other ceremonial objects from soon to be destroyed Jewish communities and ransacked synagogues in the Protectorate were brought to the so-called Central Jewish Museum in Prague. Here, the objects were sorted, classified and catalogued by Jews. Then, along with thousands of Jewish citizens, they were deported to Theresienstadt and sent on to extermination camps ‘in the east’, where they were murdered. Only a small percentage survived.
However, all of the Torah scrolls, safely locked away in Prague, miraculously survived the Nazi atrocities. After liberation, only a small number of Jews returned to Czechoslovakia. In 1948, with the establishment of a Communist government in Czechoslovakia, the building, now called the State Jewish Museum, and the contents were confiscated by the authorities. The scrolls became the property of another perverse ideology -- and a sad reminder of their original owners.
But the story does not end there. In 1964, 1,564 Torah scrolls were, without the agreement of the local Jewish community, transported as highly valuable goods to the United Kingdom, where they were entrusted to the Westminster Synagogue in London. While at the Westminster Synagogue, the scrolls were housed in specially constructed racks, while the work of inspection and classification was undertaken. Each scroll was expertly examined and a record made of the condition of the parchment, the state of the calligraphy, and (so far as these could be ascertained) the age and place of origin. Fortunately, the labels attached more than 20 years earlier survived and contained valuable information.
Once the inspection process was completed, the Westminster Synagogue made it possible for Jewish communities, synagogues and congregations worldwide to ‘permanently borrow’ a Torah scroll. Today scrolls of the Czech Jewish communities can be found from London, Berlin and Barcelona to Boston, Los Angeles and Washington DC … from South Africa and Israel to St. Thomas, Latin America, New Zealand and Australia.
Custom Group Departures
6 to 12
days
OUR TEAM
We are a team of historians, travel professionals and devoted activists who in 2015 came up with this novel idea of reviving rescued Torah scrolls from Bohemia and Moravia and – at least symbolically – returning them to their “home” towns. We have created a business model from this but first and foremost as our duty within Tikkun Olam.
OUR DIRECTOR DAVID KRAUS
Our program & project director and lead historian is David Kraus. Based in Prague and liaison with the Czech Jewish Community; he is a long time Jewish activist and researcher. His approach to sightseeing combines a scientific approach with a nuanced understanding of yiddishkeit. Our team will help you to explore Prague and elsewhere in Central Europe through multiple lenses – but especially from the perspective of your Jewish generation.
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ACTIVITIES
Each Torah Scroll Journey has its own custom designed itinerary because each Torah Scroll – where it came from and where it lives today – has its own story. A detailed itinerary with an emphasis on quality and comfort is provided in advance and includes unrestricted time to meet with our expert tour guides and guest presenters. Most importantly, we want to make sure your journey is a memorable cultural and spiritual experience – and will do whatever we can to ensure that it is.
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Programs are custom developed for each community from 7 to 14 days combining visits to the Torahs original community and exploration of the region. Tour options include land touring of the Czech Republic and surrounding countries (Austria, Poland, Slovakia & Hungary). At truly unique way to experience the region is to combine your visit with a Danube River Cruise with the extension to Prague and the Czech Republic.
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All programs include access and the unique opportunity to meet with local community leaders, officials and historians to make your program a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Guest Reviews
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"No matter what other tour I might have found of Eastern Europe with a Jewish Heritage focus, none could have come even close to what the Ten Stars Tour provided me. I never would have seen these gorgeous restored synagogues and in so seeing, be able to imagine our people living in these Jewish ghettos back in whatever time David was telling us about. I never would have found a guide as knowledgeable and as passionate about the history and information as David.
I never would have become as acquainted with the Czech Republic outside of Prague, especially Brno. I absolutely loved the experiences I had, the history I learned about and the fact of meeting and interacting with Doris. She proved to be an inspiration to me like no other.
Also, Terezín was the first and only concentration camp I've been to. It was gratifying that Terezin was not only a place of suffering, devastation and man's inhumanity to man, but that it also represented the spirit, resilience and creative spirit of the Jewish people even in the face of adversity, worse than adversity, the worst of what mankind is capable of. I loved David's explanations of how the notion of Jews going like sheep to the slaughter was all wrong. That in small and large ways they resisted.
Only on this trip would I have learned about the Czech Republic in terms of it's relative tolerance and acceptance of its Jewish population and how it considers Jewish history as part of the fabric of Czech history. I loved learning about the Czech history and its proud place in the world of nations today. For all if this and more I am most grateful."
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Sherril S - Torah Scrolls Project
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"We arrived back home late Monday night and only today, Thursday, am I venturing out to meet some friends and get back to "normal". What can I say when people ask: “How was it ?" Where do I even begin to tell? David did an incredible job organizing this trip and I am most grateful to have been part of the experience.
Besides visiting all the synagogues, enjoying the sights of Prague and Brno, taking in the unusual and beautiful view of the Fields of Yellow, as we travelled on the bus, what I treasure most are the friendships that we developed in a relatively short time of only eight days! I have never spent time with such a diverse group of people, each bringing a unique perspective to the common topic of remembering the Shoah and working toward a better future. The commitment and passion of all involved was genuine.
But especially meeting David and listening to his immense knowledge of Jewish-Czech history will stay with me forever. Just imagine what this young man's growing up as a member such a tiny minority must have been"!
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Eva E - Torah Scrolls Project & Holocaust Survivor
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"Shalom Aleichem! We returned to Israel last night from Berlin. Our tour with you in the Czech Republic remains the very highlight of our whole Central Europe trip. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and insights with us, for being so patient and caring, and keep up the good work you are doing for your community and all the Jewish people around the world! B’Simcha!"
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Rachel & Rabbi Shimon V - Torah Scrolls Project
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