Post by Wyane on Nov 29, 2006 13:33:55 GMT -5
Torah at the center of Jewish center
Published in the Asbury Park Press 12/16/99
Ancient scroll rescued by G.I. in 1943 from Italian synagogue
By JOHN A. HARNES
STAFF WRITER
In a place of honor within the Freehold Jewish Center is displayed a century-old Torah scroll -- the first five books of the Hebrew Bible -- that was one of thousands confiscated from the tiny Jewish villages and communities in Europe by the Nazis during World War II.
Nathan Rosman, 4, of Freehold, tells Marvin Krakower, Jackson, principal at the Jewish Center Western Monmouth, and other students about the previous night's Hannukkah gift during the after-school program.
Around 1943, an American soldier named Jack Steinberg found the old Torah, covered in soot and ash, in the burned out wreckage of a synagogue in Italy.
The Freehold native placed the scroll in a crate and shipped it off to his synagogue back home -- where it was retored 47 years later.
The torah is just one of the links to the past that make the Freehold Jewish Center, 59 Broad St., formerly known as Congregation Agudath Achim, a special place in the hearts of its members.
The traditional synagogue dates back to 1909, a time when Jewish families had settled in Freehold after leaving Russia and Poland and began to meet at a small hall. By 1911, the families had chartered an Orthodox synagogue and erected a building. In the 1940s, the congregation built a larger facility, which was expanded in 1973.
On display at the center is the Torah rescued in 1943.
"The synagogue has been in the borough for close to 90 years," said Rabbi Kenneth A. Greene. "I think that along with the other houses of worship, it has reflected the various religious and ethnic groups that have taken an active role in the Freehold community, both in the borough and in the township.
"There is a strong feeling of identity here," Greene said. "The community has a long standing identification and commitment to Freehold and to the kind of values the community would like to maintain."
Marvin Krakower, executive director for the Freehold Jewish Center, said the center provides a full range of programs for the 300 families it serves.
The Western Monmouth Jewish Community Center, a separate organization that rents space from the synagogue, provides cultural and sport programs, and an after-school program for children.
from the Asbury Park Press
Published: December 16, 1999
Published in the Asbury Park Press 12/16/99
Ancient scroll rescued by G.I. in 1943 from Italian synagogue
By JOHN A. HARNES
STAFF WRITER
In a place of honor within the Freehold Jewish Center is displayed a century-old Torah scroll -- the first five books of the Hebrew Bible -- that was one of thousands confiscated from the tiny Jewish villages and communities in Europe by the Nazis during World War II.
Nathan Rosman, 4, of Freehold, tells Marvin Krakower, Jackson, principal at the Jewish Center Western Monmouth, and other students about the previous night's Hannukkah gift during the after-school program.
Around 1943, an American soldier named Jack Steinberg found the old Torah, covered in soot and ash, in the burned out wreckage of a synagogue in Italy.
The Freehold native placed the scroll in a crate and shipped it off to his synagogue back home -- where it was retored 47 years later.
The torah is just one of the links to the past that make the Freehold Jewish Center, 59 Broad St., formerly known as Congregation Agudath Achim, a special place in the hearts of its members.
The traditional synagogue dates back to 1909, a time when Jewish families had settled in Freehold after leaving Russia and Poland and began to meet at a small hall. By 1911, the families had chartered an Orthodox synagogue and erected a building. In the 1940s, the congregation built a larger facility, which was expanded in 1973.
On display at the center is the Torah rescued in 1943.
"The synagogue has been in the borough for close to 90 years," said Rabbi Kenneth A. Greene. "I think that along with the other houses of worship, it has reflected the various religious and ethnic groups that have taken an active role in the Freehold community, both in the borough and in the township.
"There is a strong feeling of identity here," Greene said. "The community has a long standing identification and commitment to Freehold and to the kind of values the community would like to maintain."
Marvin Krakower, executive director for the Freehold Jewish Center, said the center provides a full range of programs for the 300 families it serves.
The Western Monmouth Jewish Community Center, a separate organization that rents space from the synagogue, provides cultural and sport programs, and an after-school program for children.
from the Asbury Park Press
Published: December 16, 1999