Keter Aram Tzova
The Jerusalem regional court ruled this week that the Keter Damascus, the Damascus Crown, i.e. the nine works of Tanach inscribed on parchment dating back hundreds of years which were smuggled into Israel from Syria by the Mossad, shall remain in the National Library rather than being transferred to the possession of HaRav Avraham Hamra, the last of Syrian rabbanim, who assisted in their being brought to Israel.
The court declared these as a public trust, determining that its permanent residence would be in the National Public Library in Jerusalem, where it has lain since 1990. The `crowns' were written by a sofer-sta"m either in Italy or Spain. Over the years, they wandered through many different batei Knesset in Damascus, Syria. These are parchment scrolls upon which the Tanach is inscribed. They were smuggled into Israel through a secret rescue effort of the Mossad in the middle of the 90's of the past century, together with the immigration of the Jewish Syrian community.
One of the central figures involved in this project was HaRav Avraham Hamra, last of the Damascus rabbanim, who immigrated to Israel in 1994. The Mossad representatives entrusted the scrolls to the National Public Library in Jerusalem where they were restored and preserved.
A heated controversy erupted in these past years as to who shall possess them. HaRav Hamra insisted that he received a promise from the Mossad that if he succeeded in taking them out from Syria and bringing them to Jerusalem, and would make aliya himself, the State would assist him in establishing and heading an Institute of Syrian Tradition where they would be featured. No such institute has been establishing to datå
Representatives of the community of Syrian Jewry in New York supported HaRav Hamra, recognizing his commitment in transferring the writings to Israel, claim that the National Library is usurping his rights by appropriating them.
The government legal advisor, Avichai Mandelblit, claimed in the past that this treasure is a cultural property of great value to the public and the nation, of prime historic, religious and national worth of the first degree." He added that these scrolls are not "the property of any private individual and must be entrusted to the hands of national institutions."
