Stephen Jurovics has said that nothing happens by accident. Three years ago a group of students from Southeastern Baptist Seminary came to visit Temple Beth Or and Reb Raachel showed them our Czech Torah. Then the rabbi said that, unfortunately, the town that the Torah came from had been destroyed, as had been the synagogue. "The Torah came from the town of Hermanuv-Mestec," she said, and immediately, one young woman spoke up: "No. The town survived and the synagogue has been restored. I know because I'm from the town of Hermanuv-Mestec."
So, the odyssey of bringing the Torah back to its home began on that day. Yesterday was that day. Not only was the Torah brought back to the synagogue and placed in its original Ark, but the members of this group held a weekday service. And, it wasn't by accident that on this trip, we had a flautist, Stacy Grove, a chanter, Sarah Stein, 2 Rabbis, Rabbi Lucy Dinner and Reb Raachel Jurovics, and every member of the group who participated.
The guide who brought us to the synagogue was a Holocaust survivor from a nearby town. And one of the participants in the service was our congregant, Hungarian-born Peter Gabor. His mother had been at Terezin. When he talked to our guide, he discovered that she and his mother had been on the last return transport from Belsen-Bergen to Terezin, during the last chaotic days of the war. Both women, because of that route, survived the Shoah. Peter had never met anyone before who had been on that same transport.
The service was attended by the townspeople of Hermanuv-Mestec, and not one was Jewish. But, those townspeople had been the ones who supervised and helped with the restoration of the building. The temple was typical of nineteenth century Reform synagogues, beautifully decorated in the Moorish style. None of us can describe the feelings of this once in a lifetime experience. You will hear more about this day when we return, because we cannot put this into words at this time.
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R'Dinner: There are at least two of us in the Chicago area who are following your journey. Thank you for sharing information about the trip, the people, communities and Torah. We have several of the Czech Torah Scrolls in Synagogues in our north suburban communities. I am fortunate to have found that scrolls from Velke Mezerici (Gross Mesertisch) and Hranice (Weisskirchen)in the Cz., where several branches of my family were from in the 1700s and 1800s are now nearby. All of the scrolls represent not only the words of our religion, but in many instances are the only remaining connections to ancestral communities and ways of life. It is a blessing that you and your congregation have decided to renew that connection, for those of us fortunate to be here, those that remain and the many more that didn't live to see their heritage and strength prevail.
Raymond Minkus
Riverwoods, Illinois
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