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.
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.