Kehilath Israel Synagogue has come to the aid of Jewish Hurricane Sandy victims in Long Island by donating a Torah scroll to a synagogue that lost four.
Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz said K.I., which has more than 15 Torah scrolls, will donate a Torah scroll to Congregation Ahavas Yisroel, a small Orthodox synagogue in Cedarhurst that had its four Torah scrolls badly damaged by the hurricane. The rabbi and his wife Shoshanna will travel to New York and deliver the Torah next week.
The Long Island synagogue was decimated after 4 feet of water washed away tables, chairs, prayer books and four Torah scrolls, one that was more than 90 years old, the congregation’s rabbi, Yissachar Blinder, told JTA, The Chronicle’s national news agency.
“Our Torahs were soaked with enough damage that it will be months before we are able to use them,” Rabbi Blinder said. “We are really grateful for everyone in Kansas City for making this gesture to help us.”
Rabbi Yanklowitz spearheaded the effort to donate a Torah to a synagogue in need, noting that damage to synagogues could hurt the community as a whole.
“I reached out to the OU (Orthodox Union) to see how I could help congregations that were destroyed. I suggested the possibility of us donating a Torah to a synagogue that lost theirs. The OU made the connection to this synagogue,” Rabbi Yanklowitz said.
K.I. has 15 kosher Torahs and a bunch of others that need repair, the rabbi said.
“Torahs aren’t like necklaces that should just be worn occasionally and then stored away, they should be used and shared with the community,” Rabbi Yanklowitz said. “We obviously weren’t affected by the hurricane here in Kansas City and we were looking for different ways to contribute to those hurt.”
So Rabbi Yanklowitz approached K.I. President Steve Osman about the possibility of donating a Torah.
“He was very supportive of the idea and the board approved it,” the rabbi said.
Rabbi Yanklowitz doesn’t know the exact worth of the Torah K.I. is donating to the New York congregation.
“A Torah scroll generally costs around $20,000 to $60,000. This is a very nice, large, heavy one probably easily worth over $25,000,” he said.
Congregation Ahavas Yisroel did not own any of the Torah scrolls that were destroyed. The four scrolls damaged in the storm were on loan from synagogue members. Rabbi Blinder said a Torah scroll is just what the community needed.
“This is a silver lining for all that we’ve been through with this hurricane,” he said.
Some information for this story was provided by JTA.