A 190-year old Torah scroll that found its home in Israel in 2017 is in need of restoration. It was brought to the Jewish state by Asher and Sandy Berlinger, who made aliyah to Israel with the help of Nefesh B'Nefesh. The couple, both in their 80s, moved to Jerusalem from Paramus, New Jersey.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
The Torah scroll was written in 1833 and was passed down from generation to generation in Asher's family, who is a descendant of a German rabbinical family.
Berlinger inherited the item from his grandfather, Naphtali Berlinger, who was the rabbi of the Bodenhausen Jewish community during the Nazi period.
When Asher was three years old, his family fled to the United States. His father, Menachem Berlinger, was arrested on Kristallnacht and event sent to prison, but, thankfully, was released because he, and the rest of the family, had visas. The family settled in New York, and the Torah school was used at a synagogue in Brooklyn.
The grandfather, Naphtali, decided to stay behind to support his congregants. In a letter he sent to loved ones, he wrote: "Do not worry about me. God is with me." He died in the Theresienstadt ghetto.
The Torah scroll is currently located in the Berliner home in Jerusalem. Almost 200 years of challenges and hardships did not leave it unscathed: part of it has been torn and some of the writing has faded, making it ineligible for use in religious worship.
"If the Torah school can be restored, I will do so, in order for it to be used in a synagogue again," Berlinger told Israel Hayom. "I open it from time to time with my family, and we have also celebrated with it on Simchat Torah. It makes me happy to use the scroll for festivities, after everything it has been through over the years."
Founder and CEO of Nefesh B'Nefesh Rabbi Yehoshua Fass said: "Every year we come across new testimonies by Holocaust survivors, and are amazed to discover more stories of heroism, in this case through a valuable object that illustrates the Jewish's people's victory and prosperous future."
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
