In 1987, Temple Adath Israel was blessed to acquire a Torah from the Memorial Scrolls Trust (MST), a non-profit organization which oversees the legacy of 1,564 Torah scrolls that survived the Holocaust from all over Czechoslovakia. Our Torah is originally from Turnov in what is now the Czech Republic. For more about the Memorial Scrolls Trust, please visit their website.
The Turnov scroll is used during special occasions, confirmation, and bar and bat mitzvahs. We read from the Turnov scroll every Yom Kippur, and it is also carried in the community-wide annual commemoration of Yom Hashoah. It gives the congregation a commonality with those who perished in the Holocaust and provides a link to “souls” from the past. In 2019, Temple Adath Israel celebrated a major restoration and rededication of the Turnov scroll. To learn more, read From Turnov to TAI, a special bulletin commemorating this endeavor.
Temple member Randall Roorda created this presentation about his 2009 trip to the Czech Republic, and in particular, his visit to Turnov, the original home of our scroll.