Sefer Torah

How a Connecticut Torah scroll traveled 50 years, and thousands of miles, to make aliyah - opinion

A closing Connecticut synagogue, a chance Facebook connection, and a retired rabbi helped a Torah scroll dedicated to a young boy complete its journey to Jerusalem.

|ByBARBARA SOFER
The sefer torah.
Synagogue ACCIL.

Twelve Torah scrolls stolen in targeted antisemitic break-in at synagogue near Paris

"It was with shock and anger that I learned this morning that the Jewish community of Levallois had been struck at what is most sacred and precious to it," said Levallois Mayor Agnès Pottier-Dumas.

|ByMATHILDA HELLER
Rare medieval Sefardi Torah scroll from the late 13th or early 14th century on display at ANU, Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv.

Rare medieval Sefardi Torah scroll goes on display at ANU - Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv

The rare medieval scroll is a unique example of Jewish history, displaying distinctive letter forms and decorative markings that were not merely aesthetic but also reflected ancient traditions.

|ByHANNAH BROWN
TEXT MESSAGES between the arson suspect Stephen Spencer Pittman and his father during the attack on Jan. 10, 2025.

Man charged with setting fire to Mississippi synagogue targeted it due to its ‘Jewish ties’

Stephen Spencer Pittman was charged on Monday with maliciously damaging or destroying a building by means of fire or an explosive, according to an affidavit filed in US District Court in Mississippi.

|ByGRACE GILSON/JTA

Police arrest 29-year-old suspect in vandalism of Torah scrolls at Kadima synagogue

Israeli police arrested a 29-year-old in Even Yehuda for vandalizing Torah scrolls and holy books at a Kadima synagogue, following a week-long investigation into the incident.

NOVEMBER 30, 2025BySARAH BEN-NUN
A Yemenite synagogue in central Israel was desecrated, and many of the institute's prayer books were shredded, worshippers discovered just before Shabbat came in last week.

A Torah scroll destined for its kibbutz destination

How a Maine state senator helped bring a Torah scroll from rural Maine to Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu.

SEPTEMBER 26, 2025ByANAV SILVERMAN PERETZ
HAROLD SILVERMAN with the Calais Torah scroll at the dedication ceremony in Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu, Sept. 1999.

Two congregations, two opinions as Torahs hit the floor at separate NYC services

Torah scrolls are treated with such reverence that on the rare occasions that they are dropped, it becomes news, at least in the Jewish media.

AUGUST 26, 2025ByANDREW SILOW-CARROLL/JTA
Rabbi Jeffrey Fox, left, teaches a class in Jewish law at Maharat, the first yeshiva to ordain women to serve as Orthodox clergy.

Rewriting our prophetic story: A message from this week’s haftarah - opinion

With God’s help, we should all make increased efforts to love our neighbors, serve those in need, and act with humility. Only that will help us begin to heal our rifts.

DECEMBER 22, 2024ByKENNETH BRANDER
An illustrative image of the biblical prophet Moses leading the Jews out of slavery in Egypt in the Exodus.

Torah Scroll rescued from ancient Syrian synagogue to be returned - report

The move is set to come during a visit by Syrian Jewish businessmen and Syria's chief Rabbi in early 2025.

DECEMBER 17, 2024ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Reading a torah scroll

Senators Graham, Blumenthal sign Torah scroll in honor of October 7 victims - exclusive

'You are not alone; the US stands with you," Sen Lindsey Graham said from the Western Wall.

OCTOBER 7, 2024ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Senators Lindsey Graham (R- SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) at a signing of a special Torah Scroll at the Western wall in honor of victims of October 7.

I’m a rabbi who wrote a fantasy novel drawing inspiration from Judaism's sacred past - opinion

When I was writing, I promised myself I wouldn’t ask where particular elements came from, now I see that I was co-creating all along, drawing on elements from the ancestral past.

AUGUST 23, 2024ByRABBI JILL HAMMER\JTA
Illustration.

Herzog adds final letter to Zelensky's wartime Torah for Ukrainian Jews

The writing of the Torah was an initiative of the Kyiv chief rabbi, Yonatan Markowitz.

APRIL 3, 2024ByMARCEL GASCÓN BARBERÁ/JTA
An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man prays on the banks of a lake in Uman, Ukraine

First creation of Adam: What is the Serpent?

The account of the conversation between the Woman and the Serpent is one of the most enigmatic in the Torah; it’s a subject of many debates and commentaries.

FEBRUARY 12, 2024ByEDUARD SHYFRIN
Satan, Battistero di San Giovanni, Florence by Dimitris Kamaras

Birth of a Torah amid chaos on the Gaza battlefield

Ninety letters of the Torah were written on the battlefield amid music, dancing, and charred meat for the troops.

JANUARY 24, 2024BySHIRLEY FINKELSTEIN
The Olim community of JTLV celebrates the writing of a Torah scroll at an army base at the Gaza border