In an unusual simcha, a sefer Torah was
returned to its rightful owners after 50 years in the
possession of a non-Jewish woman. The scroll, rescued from
the Skulener beis medrash during the Holocaust, was
finally returned to Beis Skulen.
One of the Torah scrolls in the beis medrash of the
Skulener Rebbe, ztvk"l, in Europe was exceptionally
small. Perhaps it was the sefer's tiny size that
helped it escape the eyes of the rapacious Germans. In those
dark days, it came into the possession of a non-Jewish woman,
and there it stayed for fifty years.
Just a few years ago, a Jewish woman happened to redeem it,
and brought it home with her to Australia. There, the
sefer was bought by Rabbi Michel Meir Goldhirsch, an
esteemed member of the local community. Rabbi Goldhirsch set
himself the challenge of returning the sefer Torah to
its former condition so that it could once again be read in
shul in accordance with halacha. It was a very
expensive undertaking, but he succeeded in restoring the
sefer.
Rather than using the sefer himself, Rabbi Goldhirsch
decided to return the Torah scroll to its original owners:
the Skulener chassidim. Himself a Lubavitcher chossid, Rabbi
Goldhirsch chose to honor the memory of Rebbetzin Chaya
Mushka Schneerson of Chabad, a"h, by giving the
sefer Torah to the Skulener beis medrash in the
Chessed L'Avraham institutions in Bnei Brak on the
Rebbetzin's yahrtzeit.
Rabbi Goldhirsch made the two-day trip from Australia to
bring the sefer Torah himself to Eretz Yisroel. When
word spread about the unusual gift, the simcha swept
up the masses. Jews were overjoyed that the sefer Torah
rescued from the Holocaust was now returned to its
rightful place.
The festive procession to the beis medrash accompanied
by brightly-lit torches was led by the students of the
Chessed L'Avraham boarding school in Bnei Brak and those of
the Chessed L'Avraham afternoon talmudei Torah. All
along the route, people enthusiastically joined the
simcha. Everybody begged for the zechus of
holding the rescued sefer Torah. Rabbi Goldhirsch
joyfully shared his simcha with every Jew, granting
the special merit to everyone who asked.
In the words of one of those unaffiliated with Skulen who was
dancing at the simchas sefer Torah: "How can I not
dance at klal Yisroel's simchas haTorah, at the return
of the crown to its former glory?"
The sefer Torah entered the beis medrash,
accompanied by lively dancing, with Rabbi Goldhirsch
having the honor of the recital of LeDovid Mizmor.
Afterwards, hakofos were held according to the custom
of Beis Ruzhin. HaRav Stern, son-in-law of the Skulener
Rebbe, shlita, the Rebbe's son, and HaRav Tzaler were
honored with the hakofos.
At the seudas mitzva, words of true joy and happiness
rang out, along with words of praise for Chessed L'Avraham
and the holy court of Skulen. All present listened
attentively to the blessing of the Skulener Rebbe, whose
letter was read aloud by HaRav Tzaler. The Rebbe expressed
his sadness that his weak condition prevented him from
personally participating in the simcha as he would
have liked. He extended his blessings to Rabbi Goldhirsch and
to all those participating in the simcha.
HaRav Moshe Yehuda Landau, rav and av beis din of Bnei
Brak, spoke of the great zechus merited by Chessed
L'Avraham: a sefer Torah that had disappeared and had
been given up for lost had now returned to illuminate their
beis medrash! He described the beauty of the sefer
Torah, which would be the foundation for raising Jewish
children. When Jewish children observe how Yidden invest so
great an effort to rescue and return a Torah scroll to its
original source, he said, they learn a lesson they will never
forget. They see firsthand the love Torah scholars have for
Torah, and how holy it is in their eyes.
HaRav Eliezer Dovid Friedman, rosh yeshivas Bohush and
former rav of Melbourne, Australia, told the assemblage of
Rabbi Goldhirsch's extraordinary hachnosas orchim and
Chassidus. In the zechus of those special mitzvos,
said HaRav Friedman, Rabbi Goldhirsch had merited the special
mitzva of redeeming a sefer Torah.
The mayor of Bnei Brak, Rabbi Mordechai Karelitz, praised the
Chessed L'Avraham Institutions, which stand as symbols of
both physical and spiritual chessed, even in a city
full of chessed, chachomim, and sofrim.
Knesset member Rabbi Shmuel Halpert, a student of the
Skulener Rebbe while the Rebbe was persecuted and imprisoned
in Romania, described the Rebbe's mesiras nefesh for
the sake of every single Jewish soul, both physically and
spiritually.
Rav Shmuel Stefansky, one of the heads of the Chessed
L'Avraham Institutions in the United States, brought with him
the blessings of the administrators there. He expressed hope
that the school's children grow up in accordance with the
main factor that bridges Skulen of long ago with the Skulen
of today and the Skulen of tomorrow: Torah.
HaRav Tzvi Segal, a close friend of Rabbi Goldhirsch, lauded
the man who merited redeeming the sefer Torah from the
hands of strangers, returning that precious treasure to a
place of prayer and study. Heaven had arranged that a
meritorious man such as Rabbi Goldhirsch had been presented
with the opportunity for so great and rare a
zechus.
Rabbi Goldhirsch then took the stand, and with great emotion,
related the sefer Torah's fascinating tale. He
described how he had managed to rescue the sefer from
being lost forever in the hands of non-Jews. He expressed his
great admiration for what he had seen of the Chessed
L'Avraham boarding school: young boys, olim from
persecuted countries, learning and reviewing their Torah
lessons, their pure countenances radiating yiras
Shomayim.
