Malka Yeshurun
Malka YeshurunChannel 20

Five of Malka Yeshurun's children passed away from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the lethal disease that was the subject of the recent "ice bucket challenge," and the tragedy continues as a Torah scroll she donated in their memory was stolen last week.

Yeshurun donated the scroll to the synagogue in her moshav of Bareket, located just east of Ben Gurion International Airport.

After being told about the theft last Friday, Yeshurun went to the graves of her children, calling on their souls to pray for the return of the scroll to the synagogue.

"I ask you to tear the heavens apart and ask there above that the scroll be returned to us," the bereaved mother said at the graveside of her children.

In a message to the thief on a Channel 10 TV broadcast, Yeshurun said "I call on the person who stole the Torah scroll from the synagogue to return it."

"It doesn't matter if he's a Jew or an Arab. Put it by the door, or on a table in the synagogue so that no one sees - just return the scroll to me," the distraught mother said.

ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease, which affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, eventually killing the cells.