Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Azriel Chaikin held a press conference, and addressed charges by state archive representatives that the Jewish community of Zhitomir had intentionally damaged 17 Sifrei Torah it had received from state archives. Despite the absurdity of these allegations, state officials advised Jewish leaders to wait for the results of the investigation.

The Department of Internal Affairs has finally released its findings, which completely coincide with the Jewish community’s initial statements. The Jewish community will not be charged in this matter because it did not harm the scrolls in any way. Police expertise also affirms that the damage to these historic scrolls was done previous to the date the Jewish community even received the scrolls.

The Jewish community of Ukraine demands that those Torah scrolls possessed by the state archives be returned to the Jewish community – once and for all and not merely for ‘safekeeping’. “Torah scrolls, holy texts for Jews, were taken away from Jewish communities and they must be returned to them,” stated Meir Stambler.

Today, there are at least 500 scrolls retained by state archives in Ukraine, which are needed by Jewish communities need so they may be restored and used for worship in Synagogues. By some estimates, these expropriated Torah scrolls may even number into the the thousands.

(Source: FJC)