Israel’s Foreign Ministry has dedicated a 200-year-old Iraqi Torah scroll whose journey to Israel remains a mystery.
The scroll is believed to have been found during the 2003 Iraq War in Iraqi intelligence storage. But Israeli officials offer different theories for how it arrived in Israel, where it was installed Thursday in a synagogue at the ministry in Jerusalem.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the scroll “represents the fate of the Jews.” Jews have been persecuted, he said, but “in the end they come to Israel.”
The scroll, written in Hebrew in pomegranate ink, has been restored.
The scroll is a remnant of Iraq’s 2,500-year-old Jewish community, one of the world’s oldest, which all but disappeared when large numbers of Jews left following Israel’s founding in 1948.
(AP)
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4 Responses
@FM – “Jews have been persecuted, he said, but “in the end they come to Israel.”
You almost got it right. Jews have been persecuted, but “in the end they remain or return faithful to the Torah because והיא שעמדה. . . שלא אחד בלבד עמד עלינו לכלותינו. . . והקב”ה מצילינו מידם
“Pomegranate ink”??? Is there some alternate to the standard ink used in a Sefer Torah that I’m not aware of?
Also – is this Sefer Kosher? What can be seen in the picture looks like it could be, but there’s not enough detail to really tell. I seem to recall that they found this Sefer (or perhaps another?) in a flooded basement, which would not do much for continued Kashrus. Anybody have additional details on this?
an Israeli Yid
Perhaps Israel can also arrange a mysterious journey for Jonathan Pollard to israel?
More Torah for them to not keep…..