Community Breakfast andThe Tattooed Torah, Film and Discussion

During the Nazi regime in Czechoslovakia, countless items of Judaica were confiscated from Jewish communities, whose members had been expelled from their homes. These artifacts, including a number of Torah Scrolls, were brought to Prague and assigned a number, for safe-keeping. After World War II, during the Communist regime, these Torah Scrolls were dispersed to Jewish communities throughout the world. One of the scrolls found its way to Chicago. That scroll’s journey was memorialized in a children’s book, The Tattooed Torah, by Marvell Ginsburg. The book was later made into an animated film.

On Sunday, November 6, 2022, following the Men’s Club Breakfast at 9:30 a.m., Congregation Shaara Tfille will show The Tattooed Torah in a program beginning at 10:00 a.m. After the film, there will be a discussion with Dr. Tomas Kraus, via Zoom, live from Prague. Dr. Kraus has developed the infrastructure of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Czechoslovakia. He has been particularly concerned with the question of restitution for Jewish property confiscated by the Nazis and compensation for Holocaust victims, on both domestic and international levels.