Thousands turned out in the rain on Monday 9 Kislev to
participate in the heart-rending levaya for the
parchments of a sefer Torah stolen from the Chernobyl
beis medrash in Jerusalem and desecrated. Shortly
after the parchments were buried at Har Hamenuchos the
writing of two new sifrei Torah for the beis
medrash in Ezras Torah began.
At 1:30 p.m., one hour before the levaya was scheduled
to set out, Chernobyl Chassidim, who were holding a fast,
gathered together to recite Tehillim and the Thirteen
Attributes of Mercy with the Aron Hakodesh open.
Afterwards they davened Minchah, including the reading
of Vayechal.
After Minchah the vessels in which the parchments were
to be buried were brought into the beis medrash and
placed on the bimoh to the sound of bitter weeping.
HaRav Elchonon Halperin, the Gavad of Radomishla from
London and one of the elder European rabbonim, stirred the
listeners to do teshuvoh and to rectify all the
matters associated with the custom of the Torah Reading,
calling on them not to talk between aliyas, to behave
fittingly when the sefer Torah is open and to take
great pains to maintain the sanctity of the beis
medrash.
Afterwards the rov of the kehilloh and the Admor of
Chernobyl's son-in-law, HaRav Naftoli Tzvi Halperin, cited
the Chasam Sofer's question about the verse (79:1),
"Mizmor le'Ossof Elokim, bo'u goyim benachalosecho . .
.," saying that one would think the order should be
reversed: first Jerusalem was destroyed and then the enemy
came to the Beis Hamikdosh. But Am Yisroel
expressed hope that the goyim would desist after
destroying Yerushalayim and perhaps their hands would be cut
off when they tried to do something to the Beis
Hamikdosh. When this failed to happen even at the Beis
Hamikdosh, they knew Jerusalem would be razed totally.
"Eight months ago, when we saw the Aron Hakodesh was
not in its place, we hoped the thieves wanted the silver
items and that the moment they reached the sefer Torah
they would desist and falter and the sefer Torah would
be spared, but to our great sorrow they did harm the sefer
Torah. And as a result of this our hearts cry out
bitterly." He also asked in the name of the mispalelim
at the beis medrash for the sefer Torah to
forgive them if they failed to accord it honor. He concluded
with a recitation of the selichos said on Tzom
Gedaliah, "Torah hakedoshoh hischaneni bevakoshoh . . .
" in the hope that we will soon merit a reunited and
rebuilt city, as mentioned in those prayers.
Following Kaddish, the vessels containing the
parchments were taken out of the beis medrash and the
levaya set out in the direction of Har Hamenuchos. At
the head of a crowd of thousands of Jews from all backgrounds
and streams were the Admor of Chernobyl as well as roshei
yeshivos, rabbonim and admorim. Police closed major
thoroughfares to accommodate the procession making its way on
foot to Har Hamenuchos. In front of the Chevra Kadisha car
was a vehicle from which Tehillim were recited through
loudspeakers. Dozens of buses provided by the Moatza Datit of
Jerusalem transported the numerous participants to the
cemetery.
When the large clay vessels arrived at the special section of
the cemetery designated for sifrei Torah, a moving
burial ceremony was held. After the vessels were buried,
workers continued the task of closing the gravesite and for
40 minutes members of Chevra Kadisha Perushim, who are
responsible for the tomb prepared for sifrei Torah,
recited Tehillim, verse by verse. Afterwards the Admor
of Chernobyl recited selichos (Ezkeroh Elokim
ve'ehemoyoh) followed by Ovinu Malkeinu,
collective acceptance of the yoke of Heaven and a shofar
blast.
Immediately after the burial the members of the beis
medrash returned to Ezras Torah. After Ma'ariv
they broke their fast and began writing two new sifrei
Torah, one donated by the mispallelim at the
beis medrash at the Admor's directive, and the other
donated by R' Yaakov Shraga Ausdeitscher, one of the
prominent mispallelim at the Admor's beis
medrash in Bnei Brak.
The Admor then delivered divrei chizuk, noting that
the event bore a resemblance to Motzei Yom Kippur, saying the
word, "ve'atoh," in the verse, "Ve'atoh kisvu
locheim es hashiroh hazos," refers to doing asiyas
teshuvoh.
Stolen Eight Months Ago
The entire Aron Hakodesh was stolen from the beis
medrash about eight months ago. There were no traces of
the theft until about a week ago when some hikers passed by
the Arab village of Beit Chanina just north of Jerusalem and
were shocked to see torn and desecrated parchments of a
sefer Torah strewn along the side of the path.
They reported their find to soldiers at a nearby roadblock.
Police later recovered the parchments, which were damaged
beyond repair. The broken safe, said to weigh about two tons,
was also found in the area. The Moatza Datit of Jerusalem is
planning to recover the safe. Since it served as an aron
kodesh it should also be dealt with in a respectable
way.
