When physicians Steven and Marianne Styler made aliyah from New York to Jerusalem, they did more than pack their bags with clothes. They brought with them an item of the utmost religious and historical significance.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
The Stylers made aliyah with their son Tzvi and daughter-in-law Michelle, both of whom have Down Syndrome. Their aliyah was facilitated by Nefesh B'Nefesh, in cooperation with the Aliyah and Integration Ministry, The Jewish Agency and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, and JNF-USA.
However, this is no usual aliyah story. The Stylers arrived with their family's Torah scroll, which has a unique story in and of itself. The scroll had once belonged to Marianne's parents – both of whom were Holocaust survivors from Karcag, Hungary.
Before World War II broke out, Marianne's grandfathers were both key members of their local shul, with her maternal grandfather often serving as the community's cantor and butcher and her paternal grandfather serving as warden and head of the burial society.
With the onset of the war and the Holocaust, Marianne's father was deported to Auschwitz while her mother was hidden as a gentile. The synagogue's Torah scroll remained behind in the deserted town of Karcag. Miraculously, despite the Nazi's relentless efforts to destroy any evidence of Jewish life, the scroll remained intact.
"Most of the Jewish community either fled or were murdered in Auschwitz," Steven said. "Some who managed to survive went back. So, there was a little glimmer of Jewish life after the war."
Decades later, Marianne and Steven returned to Hungary and were able to smuggle the Torah scroll out, which was then considered property of Hungary's communist regime, to the United States. The communist government explicitly forbade Jews from taking any property lost during the war, especially religious items.
"The communists appropriated everything. It all belonged to the state," Steven explained. "We took the scroll in the middle of the night since it was originally my wife's family's property. We didn't want it in the hands of the Communists. It needed to be home."
"So, we took off the poles and rolled the parchment tightly into a blanket. Since it was the hippy days people just thought we were backpacking flower children," he chuckled.
Marianne and Steven took the train from Budapest to Vienna. At the border, security guards came aboard the train. The guards, speaking in Hungarian, approached Marianne, who sat across from Steven. She jumped up and explained to the guards that her husband didn't understand Hungarian. Marianne then pointed to the bag next to the one holding the Torah, which Steven took down and opened. Of course, there was nothing questionable about the contents.
The guard looked at them suspiciously, still eyeing the other bag with the contraband, but let them go. They flew back to New York and their Torah remained there from 1970 until this year.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
Now, their prized Torah sits in a synagogue in Jerusalem awaiting their move to Netanya, when the Styler family anticipates bringing it to their local synagogue there.
"It was waiting to go home," Steven said in tears. "Hungary wasn't home. It was in the death trap of the Diaspora. Even New York wasn't home. Now it's finally where it belongs."
"As we made aliyah, I wondered, were we carrying the Torah or was the Torah carrying us? On its cover are embroidered the words from the Torah, 'Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?' I think that's fitting considering we rescued it from the depths of human depravity."
Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founder and executive director of Nefesh B'Nefesh said, "The Styler's heartwarming story and incredible Aliyah journey with their treasured scroll, emphasizes the perseverance and determination of our nation and its history. "We wish them continued success in Israel and may their precious Torah merit a final and permanent home in the Jewish homeland."
