Torah Scroll Survived Holocaust; Dedication in Mamaroneck on Sunday

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On Sunday, June 10, hundreds of people will gather for a celebration and dedication of a Torah Scroll that was saved from the Holocaust some 70 years ago by the grandfather of Chabad of Larchmont and Mamaroneck’s director.  The Torah was recently restored by the Chabad of Larchmont and Mamaroneck.  See the whole story below.

The event will begin at at 1000 W. Boston Post Rd. in Mamaroneck  at 11 a.m. with a festive meal, and then, at 12:30 pm, the Torah will be paraded under a Chupa canopy with music and dancing onto Boston Post Road and into its new home at the Chabad Jewish Center, 921 W. Boston Post Rd. in Mamaroneck.

Here is the fascinating story of this Torah:

In 2006, Rabbi Mendel and Chana Silberstein established a Chabad center to enhance Jewish life in Larchmont and Mamaroneck. In addition to the many programs they offered, a small synagogue was formed.

Cimpulung-Bukovina, Romania – Yom Kippur, 1940

Rabbi Moshe Yosef Rubin, Rabbi of this vibrant Jewish community since 1923, was  leading his congregation in prayer on this holiest day of the year when local fascists stormed the synagogue and demanded that Rabbi Rubin sign a document accusing the Jews of the town of planning a revolt against the government. After the Rabbi’s firm refusal to sign at gunpoint, before the entire congregation, the Rabbi was dragged from shul, harnessed to a wagon in place of the horse, and forced to pull the wagon through the streets of town while being beaten along with his 18 year-old son.

After the incident and the accursed anti-Semitic display, Rabbi Rubin was forced to flee his city, choosing to live in the city of Bucharest. Before leaving Cimpulung, he visited his synagogue one last time. Among the precious possessions he would take as he fled with his family, he chose several Sifrei Torah.  

With the help of G-d, Rabbi Rubin and his family eluded deportation and survived the war living in Bucharest where Rabbi Rubin had established a Shul and a Yeshivah. 

Yet as the communists took power in post-war Romania, the Rubins chose to rebuild their lives in America. Still holding the precious Torahs, they settled first in Long Beach, NY, where Rabbi Rubin served as a Rabbi, and then in Borough Park, Brooklyn. Tthe Torahs were once again part of the vibrant life of a synagogue. 

In 1971, Rabbi Rubin offered a Torah on loan to a newly established synagogue in Jerusalem. During the past 40 years, the Torah’s condition became fragile, eventually rendering it unfit for use in a synagogue.

Rabbi Moshe Yosef Rubin, of blessed memory, was Chana (Rubin) Silberstein's paternal grandfather.

 Rabbi Rubin's family and Chabad of Larchmont and Mamaroneck have taken on the monumental task of restoring the Torah and bringing it back to life, with an honored home in our synagogue. Our shul will receive its very first Torah with a unique legacy, to proudly rest in our Aron Kodesh, Holy Ark.

 
Together we have brought this Holocaust Torah back to life!