Since its re-dedication in 1999, Etz Hayyim has been the recipient of many important gifts in the form of liturgical artefacts and textiles, e.g. a shofar (ram’s horn), yad pointers for Torah reading and Kiddush cups among others.
Certainly the most important items are the Siphrei Torah (scrolls). The first Torah originates from Cairo, from the David ibn Zimrah Synagogue, and was a gift to Nikos Stavroulakis. Encased in its original tik (case), the Torah scroll is written on gazelle skin and bears a silver dedication. The second Sepher Torah is an Eastern European one and is on loan to the synagogue from the Westminster Memorial Scrolls Trust in London. This Sepher had been brought to Prague during the Second World War along with about 1,800 scrolls. After the war, they were transferred to an abandoned synagogue at Michle near Prague. After several years of negotiation, most of these scrolls were sent to London where they were being repaired and then given to synagogues in need of a Torah. Our Sepher was acquired through the assistance of Mrs Ruth Shaffer, then Director of the Memorial Scrolls Trust.
Photo 1, 2, 3, 4: © The Jewish Museum of Greece
Photo 5
Source: public domain
