On November 24, over 40 Sifrei Torah of “unclear” origin were found in the office of a sofer (scribe) in Jerusalem. At least seven of the scrolls were positively identified as being stolen. Police are attempting to locate the owners of the other scrolls. Following a wide-ranging investigation by the Israeli police, two brothers from Teveria were indicted in stealing the scrolls and selling them to a scribe who sold them on for a handsome profit.
The seven “lucky” scrolls were positively identified as fortunately they had been registered with Machon Ot. The other scrolls may or may not be returned to their original owners for lack of identification.
The Israeli-based Machon Ot, a unique organization, has the singular mission of protecting the theft or loss of Torah scrolls worldwide. The Ot Institute was established in 1986 by Rabbi Yitzchak Shteiner zt’l, the sofer of choice of Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook, and by Rabbi Yitzchak Goldstein, who was certified as a scribe by Israel’s Chief Rabbis Avraham Shapiro and Mordechai Eliyahu in 1984. Together they brought many years of expertise in Jewish scribal law and inspection of Torah scrolls to the institute. Their publications include “The Laws Concerning a Torah in Which was Found a Mistake” (1988), and “Tefillin Instruction Booklet” (1988).
Located on Rechov Ha’uman in Jerusalem, the Ot Institute is a not-for-profit organization which specializes in several crucial areas. Its experts evaluate Torah scrolls for insurance and customs purposes. Older scrolls brought to its offices can be dated, documented and restored so that they are “kosher” and can be fully utilized within their congregations.
The exciting and invaluable innovation of Machon Ot is its coding system which, not unlike fingerprints, is able to identify every Sefer Torah individually so that it can be returned to its rightful owner if it is ever borrowed for a simcha, taken to the house of a mourner, lent for a bar mitzvah or in the worst scenario, stolen. The coding process is done by taking a computer image of 24 lines of a central section of a particular column from a parsha (chapter), thus creating a code which is unique to that scroll and which is then registered on a disc which will remain in the database of the Ot Institute and easily accessible if needed. There are no visible markings on the scroll which can be altered or removed to hide its identity. This makes the system reliable and foolproof.
To date, the Ot Institute has over 17,000 Torah scrolls in its registry. Clients of the registry include The Israeli Defense Forces, the United States Armed Forces and the National Library of Israel. Communities utilizing the registry are as far-flung as England, Holland, Finland, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy and Russia. Here in the U.S., communities across the country have registered with the Ot Institute as have local congregations here in New Jersey including Beth Sholom, Rinat, Bnai Yeshurun, Ohr Saadya, Zichron Mordechai, Teaneck Jewish Center and Fair Lawn Jewish Center, among others.
What is the cost to the shul or individual for this registration and how long does the process take? The current fee for the entire registration process is $100. The process takes under an hour in the shul or home as requested. Arrangements for registration here in the U.S. can be made by contacting the U.S. representative of the Ot Institute, Zerach Greenfield.
A certified sofer, Greenfield joined the Ot Institute in 1994. During his frequent trips to the US from his home in Karnei Shomron, Greenfield conducts a thriving lulav and etrog distribution business out of Queens, NY, as well as a company supplying educational materials to Jewish day schools throughout the country. Through his STAM website, Greenfield provides all the necessary information needed to enable consumers to make educated and cost-effective decisions when purchasing tefillin, mezuzot, megillot and Sifrei Torah. His travels throughout the U.S. and Europe have brought him to hundreds of synagogues and community centers that wish to check their Torah scrolls and secure them. “The more communities we service, the less likely we will be to hear the tragic scenarios of losing treasured and sentimental scrolls to acts of heartless thievery and greed.”
To arrange for your Torah scrolls to be registered with Machon Ot, contact Zerach Greenfield at [email protected].
By Pearl Markovitz
