BROOKLYN, NY — The holiday was kosher, but the return trip was a nightmare for one Brooklyn Heights congregation, which lost a sacred Torah in a car break-in on Sunday night.
Cops say that a thief stole one of Congregation B’nai Avraham’s hand-written religious scrolls from a car parked in Crown Heights.
Torah Horror for Heights Shul!
BROOKLYN, NY — The holiday was kosher, but the return trip was a nightmare for one Brooklyn Heights congregation, which lost a sacred Torah in a car break-in on Sunday night.
Cops say that a thief stole one of Congregation B’nai Avraham’s hand-written religious scrolls from a car parked in Crown Heights.
The synagogue is on schpilkers hoping for the Good Book’s return.
“We’re looking through trash bins [in Crown Heights] in case the thief didn’t know what he got — and we’re offering a $1,000 reward,” said Rabbi Simcha Weinstein of the Remsen Street congregation.
The scroll, which took years to inscribe and is worth at least $10,000, was acquired about a decade ago. B’nai Avraham let a group of congregants borrow the Torah for a “Kosher holiday” to Turks and Caicos.
“We lent them a Torah so they could have services on the island. They got back late, and they thought it would be safe for one night in a duffel bag in the back of the car,” explained Weinstein. “One night!”
But not even the all-seeing eye of g-d could protect the holy scroll — the sacred Five Books of Moses that comprise the Jewish Old Testament.
Under the cover of darkness, the thief shattered the driver’s-side window of the car, which was parked on Union Street near Utica Avenue, then grabbed the duffel bag and fled.
Who would want a Torah? The hand-written scrolls can be worth tens of thousands of dollars, but for one problem: they can’t be fenced. Like most Torahs, this scroll had been previously stamped by the Universal Torah Registry with a secret code, a sort of Talmudic dye pack.
Registered Torahs carry a series of small perforations that are kept in an online database that synagogues check before making a purchase.
“Once [would-be buyers] realize a Torah is registered, they don’t want to buy it, so there have been very few Torah thefts since the registry’s inception,” said David Pollack of the Jewish Community Relations Council, which runs the registry.
The few thefts that do occur these days are generally inside jobs, according to Pollack.
“Usually, it’s someone that knows where the Torahs are and has access to them,” he said.
But the robber’s unsophisticated methods — deceptively unsophisticated, perhaps — has B’nai Avraham’s Weinstein convinced the robber doesn’t know what he’s got.
“Whoever stole it probably didn’t know it was a Torah,” said Weinstein. “If a man returns it, he’ll get $1,000 and a kiss, no questions asked.”
Weinstein said that if a woman returns it, she’ll get the $1,000 only — religious rules, you understand.
To offer any information about the stolen Torah, call Congregation B’nai Avraham at (718) 866-6815.
Great Article...NOT
Where did this article come from?
First it says the scroll is worth $40K, then $10K.
Then worst of all “Jewish Old Testament”? As opposed to “new ”what?
Who wrote this? Who are their fact checkers?
And the punch line, it belonged to the Heights Synagogue, oy, what a bad year for them, with break-ins, anti-semetic graffiti, and now this.
I don’t want to rub salt in a wound, but who leaves $40K in a car overnight, least of all in a neighborhood known for car break-ins
admin1
this article implies that the bochur who had the sefer torah stole it and blamed someone else…
WONDERING
WHY WAS THE TORAH LEFT IN A CAR OVER NIGHT ANWAY?
Kfirah
How do you post pure Kefirah (blasphemy) on your website (“But not even the all-seeing eye…”)?
I am sorry, I don’t see any Heter for this!
CN
Why does it say only that once a would be buyer realizes a Torah is registered they don’t want to buy it? It should also say they call the police and report the Torah was stolen.
David
Dear WONDERING,
Instead of asking “WHY WAS THE TORAH LEFT IN THE CAR OVER NIGHT ANWAY” [sic], how about asking “is there anything I could do to help recover it”?
Surely if more people asked the latter, it would increase the chances of finding it.
wondering2 wrote
when a goy still something he doesn’t check it in place. he takes it, goes to a safe place then check what he got.
and to think just a bit that the bachurim did that!! is really ABSURD and STupid to say…….
so think twice before saying anything, and read twice the article before saying that it’s written between the line.
“kaf zchout” no judgement. MOshiach NOw
boruch hoffinger
B“H
Nice article.
Yes, I agree with Kifirah: ”But not even the all-seeing eye of g-d could protect the holy scroll — the sacred Five Books of Moses that comprise the Jewish Old Testament.“
Re: ”But not even…” makes it sound like G-d is not omnipotent.
The writer wrote ‘Old Testament’ for those who don’t know what Torah means, probably.
Sorry about the loss.