HaMakom Welcomes You!
Our Torah
HaMakom is now home to a Torah! After some incredible work by founding member Linda Kates, a Torah was located for HaMakom and is now on permanent loan to our community.
The Torah, designated MST#591, comes to us from the Memorial Scrolls Trust in London. On August 11, 2024, founding member Cindy Shapiro (pictured) and her husband Jack Wall happened to be in London and were able to bring the Torah home from the Trust.
This is no ordinary Torah. It is an Ashkenazi Bohemian Sefer Torah written in the 19th century and was rescued from the Holocaust. It comes from the town of Milevsko in the Czech Republic. It is among more than 1,500 Torahs handled by the Trust, which is tasked with not just preserving these precious artifacts but also passing them on to burgeoning new synagogues that will actively use them during services – like HaMakom!
This is the Trust’s first Torah to be placed in Portugal. It most recently lived for three years at a congregation in Stamford, Connecticut, that recently closed.
The Torah is on permanent loan to HaMakom thanks to generous donations from the Trust, WUPJ (the World Union for Progressive Judaism) and Sandy and Tadd Schwab of Florida in honor of their grandchildren, Jacob and Abigail Schulties and Dean and Clark Schwab. Their names will be inscribed on the Torah cover, which is also being donated.
A huge thanks to Jeffrey Ohrenstein of the Trust and Andrew Keene of the WUPJ for all their help, and to David Marks of London for helping with the process.
The Trust has asked HaMakom to make a 1,000 euro donation to help offset the cost of transporting, restoring and caring for the Torah. The restoration work alone was close to 6,000 euros. We are also purchasing insurance for the Torah, which is 250 euros a year, and a community member is building an Ark, which will also cost money.
To cover these costs, please consider making a donation to HaMakom. We have set up a donation page in denominations of Chai. Your gift will help preserve a living memory of the Holocaust and maintain the Torah for generations to come. Please give generously!
Jack and Cindy spent a delightful afternoon with Donal Savage, who walked them through fascinating centuries of history of the area of the world from where this cache of Torahs was rescued. Donal is the IT specialist for the Trust, but is also the docent for the museum. He is charming!
2024-08-11 at the Memorial Scrolls Trust, London Collecting a Torah for HaMakom Porto, Portugal
2024-08-11 at the Memorial Scrolls Trust, London Collecting a Torah for HaMakom Porto, Portugal
2024-08-11 at the Memorial Scrolls Trust, London Collecting a Torah for HaMakom Porto, Portugal
2024-08-11 at the Memorial Scrolls Trust, London Collecting a Torah for HaMakom Porto, Portugal