Local rabbonim joined hundreds crowded outside the Chida Synagogue in Paris' 16th arrondissement last week for a mournful levaya for the seven sifrei Torah burned the Thursday before Parshas Chukas.
A burnt smell still hangs in the air. The ashen remains of the seven sifrei Torah, cloaked in talleisim, were laid on a table outside, as "Sha'ali Serufah Ba'Eish..." was recited, among other Tisha B'Av Kinos on the burning of the Torah.
Traffic in the street came to a halt. The rov of the beis knesses, HaRav Shlomo Azran, lamented the tragic incident, saying it left Jews of the kehilloh and of the city bereft of the scrolls and of a place of prayer.
Hundreds of people cried out the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, effecting a kiddush Hashem in the streets of Paris, and HaRav Yitzchok Katz sent a tremor through the crowd as he blew a powerful shofar blast.
The cause of the blaze remains unknown.
