By Carolyn Webb
An orthodox Jewish community will hold burial ceremonies for holy Torah scrolls if they are found to be damaged beyond repair after the firebombing of their synagogue.
The secretary of the Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea, in Melbourne’s inner south-east, said scriptures that couldn’t be salvaged would be interred in a service at its Springvale cemetery.
Members of the Adass Israel community inspect Torah scrolls damaged in Friday’s synagogue firebombing.Credit: Adass Israel congregation
Synagogue board member Benjamin Klein remembers one such ceremony in Melbourne.
He said that in 1995 the same Ripponlea synagogue was firebombed, and several Torah scrolls were damaged and buried.
Klein, who was then a child, and whose grandfather Arnold Koppel was then the synagogue president, said it was “quite a big deal” to bury a Torah scroll.
“It’s like burying a body,” he said. “The whole community comes, the rabbi speaks, people tear their clothes as a sign of mourning, and the men fast for 24 hours.”
Torah scrolls with water damage caused during the arson attack.Credit: Adass Israel congregation
Klein said that in the attack in the early hours of Friday, six Torah scrolls had been damaged, some quite badly, by heat and water.
Later on Friday, the scrolls were unfurled to inspect them inside the orthodox congregation’s school.
On Sunday a sofer, or scribe, and a rabbi decided on which scrolls could be saved.
“I suspect two or three will be impossible to fix,” Klein said. “When I was there on Friday looking at them, they looked very bad.”
A damaged section of Torah scroll.Credit: Adass Israel congregation
Klein said Torah scrolls were very precious and even the slightest damage “makes them invalid, and you can’t use them”.
“If one letter touches another letter, the entire scroll can’t be used, so it’s very delicate – the holiest item in the Jewish faith,” he said.
Eight of the synagogue’s Torah scrolls were not damaged.
Klein said a Torah scroll was donated to the synagogue about every few years, for example in memory of a deceased loved one.
Chaim Klein carries a Torah scroll from Adass Israel synagogue on Friday afternoon.Credit: Arsineh Houspian
Each scripture, setting out the Old Testament, costs between $120,000 and $150,000 and is handwritten by a scribe in Israel.
A Torah scroll takes about 18 months to write.
Klein said there was a parade and “massive celebration” in a synagogue when a donated scroll was dedicated.
Asked what it meant to lose scrolls, Klein said: “Aside from the financial cost, emotionally it’s a terrible thing to happen to the community.
“My father-in-law dedicated one about 10 years ago, and he has passed away now. So when I had to call his wife, my mother-in-law, to tell her that his is damaged, she was distressed.”
Klein said the damaged scrolls, which were insured, had been stored in fire-proof safes, but “the fire was so extreme that it still damaged them”.
Jewish Community Council of Victoria chief executive Naomi Levin said it was devastating that precious Torah scrolls might be damaged beyond repair because of the flames and water damage.
“As a community though, we will come together and ensure that those Torah scrolls and more will be replaced, and that the community has what they need,” she said.
With Ashleigh McMillan