When congregants arrived at the Central Shul in Moshav Nevatim to celebrate Simchas Torah they were shocked to learn that the crowns, ornaments and covers for the sifrei Torah were stolen. Some of the articles are 300 years old and the sifrei torah were smuggled to Israel from India and the shul was built as an exact replica of the original in Cochin, India.
The community in Cochin once numbered thousands of Jews, but in the 1950s they began heading to Eretz Yisrael, moving to various areas, but the central community established itself in Moshav Nevatim, today numbering 170 families from Indian community.
In the shul, a new central bima was recently dedicated at the cost of NIS 150,000. They hoped to mark Simchas Torah in their tradition known as ‘menora,’ taking the sifrei torah and placing them on the bima, which is specially decorated for the occasion. When the Aaron Kodesh was opened, they were horrified to see all the crowns were gone, as were the ancient covers for the sifrei torah, some irreplaceable, from the original Cochin community.
Police are investigating.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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One Response
These crimes have been all over the United States in the pasts few years, ex: in the Minnesota Yeshiva, the 8 Torahs in Queens, and other crimes like this, now its spreading to Eretz Yisroel, the Chutzpah to do such a thing, in the Eretz Hakadosh.