The U.S. Navy dedicated a Lithuanian Torah scroll Sunday that survived the

Holocaust in its new home on the aircraft carrier S.S. Harry S. Truman.



This particular Torah scroll is the only remaining religious item that

survived the World War II destruction of the Jewish community of

Lithuania, according to organizers of the event.



A number of Jewish U.S. servicemen and women attended the dedication

ceremony on board the ship, taking photos alongside the 26-inch high Torah

scroll in its new home.



Not every vessel merits the presence of its own Torah, according to media

reports, but the S.S. Harry S. Truman is one of several that are large

enough to need one to facilitate religious worship by its Jewish sailors.



Jews on the ship previously used a Torah scroll that was presented to

then-President Harry S. Truman by the first President of Israel, Chaim

Weizmann.



Attending the celebration were some 500 Jewish community members and

dignitaries, including a number of survivors of Hitler s attempt to

annihilate the Jews.



Prior to World War II, the Jewish community numbered an estimated 10

percent of Lithuania s total population. More than 200,000 of those, some

95 percent of the Jewish community, perished in the Holocaust.



The most recent survey, carried out in May 2006, shows that today s Jewish

community numbers approximately 4,000, the majority of whom are secular.

There are seven Jewish communities that consider themselves religious.



Chabad Lubavitch emissaries have strived to rejuvenate Jewish life in the

country, and re-established a Jewish school (K-12), a community center and

a kosher kitchen in Vilna, the capital of Lithuania.