Photo taken the morning after Kristallnacht in Magdeburg, Germany.

Richmond Chabad Dances with ‘Miracle Torah’

Thursday was a special evening for the Jewish community in Richmond, for more than one reason. Not only was it the joyous holiday of Simchas Torah, but the Chabad Center of Richmond was in possession of a very significant artefact saved from one of the most traumatic events in modern Jewish history.

From the Richmond News:

At the heart of Thursday’s festivities at Grauer elementary, with Holocaust survivors among the guests, was no ordinary Torah Scroll — it was one that survived Kristallnacht (Crystal Night) or “Night of the Broken Glass,” as it’s known in English.

During Kristallnacht, in Nazi Germany on Nov. 9 and 10, 1938, hundreds of Jews died while their homes, hospitals and schools were ransacked as attackers demolished buildings with sledgehammers and burned others to the ground.

The name comes from the shards of broken glass that littered the streets after Jewish-owned stores, homes and synagogues were smashed.

Only a very few scrolls from that night are thought to have survived and only one, as far as Chabad of Richmond’s Rabbi Yechiel Baitelman knows, has been restored and is touring the world.

Click here to continue reading at the Richmond News.