KANSAS CITY, MO [AP] — A Torah scroll valued at about $30,000 reported stolen from a St. Louis-area synagogue is 1 of a handful of Torah scrolls stolen in the past year in the United States.
No one seems certain of a motive, but speculation includes a hate crime or selling the sacred documents on the black market, according to The Kansas City Star.
Stolen Torahs Mystify Police, Congregations
KANSAS CITY, MO [AP] — A Torah scroll valued at about $30,000 reported stolen from a St. Louis-area synagogue is 1 of a handful of Torah scrolls stolen in the past year in the United States.
No one seems certain of a motive, but speculation includes a hate crime or selling the sacred documents on the black market, according to The Kansas City Star.
The University City scroll near St. Louis had last been seen in the ark a week before it was stolen in May. Police Capt. Mike Ransom said police had no leads.
In April, two Torah scrolls were stolen from a synagogue in Kenosha, Wis. Another Torah was taken from a high school in a St. Paul, Minn., suburb in September.
In Miami Beach, Fla., a Chabad house burned down in April. Police suspect a Torah was taken before the fire started because investigators found no remnants of the scroll inside.
Torah scrolls, entirely handwritten in Hebrew by a scribe, contain the five books of Moses. New scrolls cost between $30,000 and $50,000 to produce.
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