|
|
WELCOME
TO
THE CZECH TORAH NETWORK!
|
|
|
|
| The Czech Torah Network Web site is updated and maintained
regularly for our users and visitors. We shall continue to
expand and develop the site to serve people everywhere to
learn about this wonderful cause. |
|
| The Czech Torah Network is an education organization
dedicated to rememberance 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. |
|
| |
Through The Czech Torah
Network, we will encourage one another to fully utilize
these precious scrolls in ongoing educational and worship
activities. It is important that we make a living connection
to the communities where these scrolls originated by
locating survivors, looking after their cemeteries,
and remembering those who once worshipped with these
sacred Torah scrolls. |
|
| |
Does
Your Congregation Have A Scroll From The Memorial Scrolls
Trust In London, England
Fill in the Inquiry Form to receive
information and assistance in researching your scroll and
those who once prayed with it.
www.czechtorah.org/inquiry.htm |
| |
| Latest News |
February 2003
Second Czech Torah Network Scrolls Conference Planned for
Spring 2004 |
| The second Czech Torah Network Scrolls Conference is now
being planned and will take place in the Spring of 2004 in
Cincinnati, Ohio. As developments unfold we will provide more
information to all the friends of the Czech Torah Network.
If you are interested in attending or for speaking and sponsorship
opportunities please contact Susan Boyer at czechtorah@aol.com. |
| |
 We
are all aware of the very distressing news comming from the
Czech Republic and the rest of Europe due to the damaging
floods. Please download The Czech Torah Network Emergency
Update information to see how you can help - www.czechtorah.org/ctn_eu.pdf. |
| 100% of your tax-deductible donations will go directly to
assist the Prague Jewish community. Please send your donations
to the following: |
|
Project Judaica (501-C3 non-profit)
c/o Czech Heritage Action Initiative
P.O. Box 516
Deerfield, IL 60015 USA |
|
| To view more photos of the tragic floods visit our emergency
flood photo gallery at www.czechtorah.org/floods.htm. |
|
June 2002
Lost Train of Kolin |
About 200 people attended a ceremony in a Czech
town to remember a Nazi death transport. Among those at Sunday´s
ceremony commemorating what has become known as the Lost Train
of Kolin were members of six synagogues from around the world.
The event was organized by Czech Torah Network Chairman, Rabbi
Mark Shapiro, and Czech Torah Network Advisory Board member,
Michael Heppner. The train left the town of Bohusovice, near
the Terezin transit camp, on June 13, 1942. No record exists
of its final destination or the fate that awaited its occupants.
"We must remember this transport and the extermination
of the Kolin Jewish community," said Hana Greenfield,
a Kolin-born Israeli who helped to found the Czech Torah Network,
organized the ceremony. Attendees included representatives
from B´nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim in Glenview, Ill.; Temple
Emanuel in Denver; Cape Cod Synagogue in Hyannis,
Mass.; Temple Sholom in Floral Park, N.Y.; synagogue Tifferet
Shalom in Ramat Aviv, Israel; and the Northwood and Pinner
Liberal Synagogue in London. Each congregation has been entrusted
with a Torah scroll from
Kolin. |
| Read more about Rabbi Shapiro, Congregation
BJBE, and The Quest for Koline at www.czechtorah.org/projects.htm. |
|
May 2002
Kudos, Dr. Michael Starrels |
| Congratulations go to temple
board member, Dr. Michael Starrels of Temple Judea of Bucks
County, Doylestown, Pennsylvania for his detailed and moving
story, An Unstilled Voice From The Holocaust. Inspired
by Temple Judea's scroll, from the town of Kardasova Recice,
Dr. Starrels archived their scroll so that the Jews of Kardasova
Recice will always be remembered by Temple Judea. His work
includes pictures, both old and current, of the town, synagogue,
cemetary,and a trasport list as well as a the tale of the
scrolls journey to Doylestown. It was dedicated on April 15,
1983. Our thank you is extended to Dr. Starrels for his monumental
work. To learn more, contact Dr. Starrels at mikestarrels@prodigy.net. |
|
May 2002
Kudos, Mr. Donald Kraft |
| Yom Hashoah was
marked by Am Yisrael of the North Shore in Glencoe, Illinois,
with a speech by congregant Donld Kraft. He researched the
town of Humpolec in the now Czech Repulic as a way to remember
Humpolec's Jews. Am Yisrael received the Humpolec scroll in
1970, on permanent loan from the Czech Scrolls Trust in London.
Mr. Kraft is an avid genealogist and used his genealogy researching
skills to learn about the Jews of Humpolec. For more information
contact Mr. Kraft at donhkraft@cs.com. |
|
| March 2002 - Czech Torah
Network Executive Director Inspires Religious School Students |
| University Synagogue in Irvine, California
invited CTN Executive Director, Larry Glickman, to speak to
its religious school students of the significance of their
mysterious scroll. He shared with the students the
story of the Jewish Torahs of Czechoslovakia - www.czechtorah.org/thestory.htm.
Then Mr. Glickman shared his own congregation's torah adventure
- www.bjbe.org. Mr. Glickman
shared slides and stories about his youth group's travels
to Kolin to clean the abandon Jewish cemetary and pray in
the forgotten synagogue. Mr. Glickman and BJBE's youth group
are planning a third trip to Kolin in 2003. For more information
on how to plan and organize a torah educational project for
your youth group please contact Mr. Larry Glickman directly
at lglickman@attbi.com. |
| |
Spring - Summer
2001
The Czech Torah Network is pleased to report that its
first conference, Connecting With
Your Czech Torah And Its Past, took place at
Congregation BJBE in Glenview, Illinois Friday, April 27,
2001 - Sunday April 29, 2001. |
| |
| The weekend started
with a Friday night service where Michael Heppner of London
led the congregation in a "roll call"
remembering by name and occupation the 480
individual Jews of Kolin who perished in the Holocaust. This
remembrance is similar to the service
at Northwood and Pinner Liberal in London, where Michael
chairs Northwood and Pinner Synagogue's "Czech Connection."
Congregation BJBE is one of many congregations
that has a torah from the town of Kolin
and this weekend was a sharing of information to enrich these
congregations knowledge about those Jews lost
to the Holocaust who once prayed with
these scrolls. |
| |
| Sunday's workshop was represented by more
than 50 delegates from congregations in Illinois, Colorado,
Texas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York,
California, Ohio, Indiana, and Florida all entrusted with
scrolls from the Czech Scrolls Memorial
Trust in London. Valuable information regarding tracing
the original scroll congregations was shared. Although there
are over one thousand Czech Torah Scrolls
in the USA, most have been with congregations
for over 20 years. Those members responsible for bringing
these scrolls to their congregation
have, in many cases, moved on and the present leadership is
sometimes unaware of the "forgotten Holocaust survivor"
sitting in their ark. The CTN was able to revive awareness
and explore making these scrolls a meaningful
and symbolic link to the past. People left with excitement
and enthusiasm about connecting with their torah and the town
and people who once used it.
|
| |
| The conference was covered by
local as well as international press agencies. Visit www.JC.com,
a Jewish news web site to read the news release titled Chicago
Hosts Scrolls Conference - http://www.thejc.com/Print.asp?Record_10715
|
| |
|
The Story Of The Jewish
Torahs Of Czechoslovakia
Joseph Pick details the story of the 1,564 Torah scrolls from
the hundreds of Jewish Communities which was once known as
Jewish Communities in Bohemia and Moravia, wiped out by the
Nazis in the Holocaust. Read The
Story of the Jewish Torahs of Czechoslovakia
in 4 chapters that will touch your soul:
www.czechtorah.org/thestory.htm |
|
New Children's Book
- I Am A Holocaust Torah
Czech Torah Network founding members,
Murray and Hana Greenfield, have been instrumental in the
publishing of the book, I Am A Holocaust Torah, written
by Rabbi Alex J. Goldman. The book is available from Gefen
Publishing House. To order this book or for more infomation
about Holocaust-related books, e-mail orders@gefenpublishing.com.
Or, visit the Gefen Publishing website at www.gefenpublishing.com. |
|
About The Czech
Torah Network
Here you'll find more information
about the organization. If you think your congregation has
a Czech Sefer Torah from the Czech Memorial Scrolls Center,
we encourage you to contact The Czech Torah Network and become
a member of our worldwide organization.
www.czechtorah.org/about.htm |
|
The Czech Memorial
Scrolls Centre
Today the numbered racks where these scrolls were
stored since their arrival in 1964, have grown emptier, as
one scroll after another has been put back into into use by
congregations and religious institutions all over the world.
www.czechtorah.org/trust.htm |
|
Current Projects
Learn about member projects including
The Quest For Kolin
and a documentary film in production about the Czech Sefer
Scrolls called The Torah Of Susice.
www.czechtorah.org/projects.htm |
|
Resources and Educational
Links
Resources and links to other Internet
Web sites. Please send information about your site and the
link to have your site added to The Czech Torah Network home
page.
www.czechtorah.org/links/links.htm |
|
What
Was The Holocaust?
We have compiled 50 highly selective
links to help you learn about the Holocaust and what it means
to Jewish heritage.
www.czechtorah.org/holocaust50.htm |
|
Web Site Map
A complete index of The Czech Torah
Network Web site. Navigate quickly to any section of the site
from the Web Site Map.
www.czechtorah.org/sitemap.htm |
| |
Contact Information
Contact information for the organization
and membership of The Czech Torah Network.
www.czechtorah.org/contact.htm |
