Opinion Editorials, June 2007
June 2007 Opinion Editorial Links
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A Torah Placed Aboard the Carrier Harry S. Truman: Where's the Separation Between Church and State?
After the Holocaust, Torah Finds a Shelter
http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=127304&ran=38272&tref=de
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| Lt.
Julia Weber and Petty Officer 3rd Class Jesse Kopelman set the Torah
on the hangar deck of the carrier Harry S. Truman. The Torah is
expected to remain on the ship for 41 years. STEVE
EARLEY | THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT |
The Virginian-PilotJune 25, 2007
NORFOLK
A Torah that survived two world wars and the Holocaust was welcomed home Sunday.
About 500 community members, dignitaries such as Sen. Carl Levin, and service members gathered aboard the Harry S. Truman to dedicate the Torah to the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier, where it will remain for 41 years.
"This is not a ceremony alone," said Mark E. Talisman, founder and president of the Project Judaica Foundation. "It's about humanity or a lack thereof. It's about all of us understanding the dignity of human life."
The religious scroll bearing the words of the Old Testament was rescued from Lithuania. About 5 percent or less of Lithuania's Jewish population survived the Holocaust, and no religious artifacts, other than this Torah, are thought to remain.
It is one of the last Torahs recovered from the Holocaust.
"I'm very proud of our servicemen who are serving, and I'm very proud that they saw fit to have a Torah on board the ship," said Julius Marcus of Portsmouth, who attended with his wife, Jeanne.
Several Jewish service members celebrated the event, taking photos with the heavy 26-inch- high scroll at the end of the ceremony.
Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he found Truman's namesake carrier to be a fitting home for a Torah that would help service members "grow in their appreciation of our Jewish faith."
On May 14, 1948, 11 minutes after the nation of Israel was created, President Truman recognized it diplomatically. Israel's first president, Chaim Weizmann, thanked Truman with a Torah that now belongs to the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library.
That Torah was on loan to the carrier and displayed next to the Torah that was dedicated Sunday.
The carrier Truman is one of the few Navy vessels to have its own Torah. Few are large enough to need one, said Sam Werbel, one of the event's organizers.
The Torah carried special significance for several people in the audience. Family members of Holocaust survivors sat in the front row, some wondering if, at one point, the Torah being dedicated might have been used by their ancestors.
"It has stood the test of a few millennia," Talisman said. "I believe the words on this parchment. Its letters glisten."
Comments
Sorry, I don't get it!
Sorry, I don't get it! You said: "The religious scroll bearing the
words of the Old Testament was rescued from Lithuania. About 5 percent or
less of Lithuania's Jewish population survived the Holocaust, and no
religious artifacts, other than this Torah, are thought to remain."
Seems to me that this Torah rightfully belongs to the Jewish Lithuanians,
not to the American Jews. I would hope that people with less of an agenda
would reconsider and send this Torah home, to its rightful owners, the
Lithuanians, and to their descendants. I'm sure that most Navy personnel
could care less about having a Torah, especially after the efforts of the
ADL to eliminate mealtime prayers at the Naval Academy two years ago. What
percent of the Navy is Jewish...1%...2%? Also, while Truman backed the
Jewish State, he had some rather unkind opinions of Jews in general, as
evidenced by his 1947 diary. BTW, I read the same Old Testament in my
Catholic Bible, so don't be tempted to label me......OK?
- Donald B. - Virginia Beach
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A ccun.org reader's comment by Robert Shule:
A Torah has recently been placed upon the U.S. Aircraft Carrier Harry S. Truman! Considering all the turmoil surrounding someone placing a stone with the Ten Commandments in some government justice building some short time ago and all the other contentions put forth regarding religious symbols on government property by the ACLU and others, one wonders what sensitivities have been ignored by this act. Hmmm, so much for separation of church and state. Looks like our government may have a religion afterall. I wonder if the ACLU will complain.
Respectfully,
Robert Shule
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