Rabbi Joseph Ralbag, special emissary from the Ministry for Religious Affairs in Israel and the Ministry of Defense, has arrived in the U.S. on a mission to obtain Torah scrolls for synagogues in Israel mainly for commemorating the soldiers who died during the Yom Kippur War. A great number of the bereaved families who have lost sons and husbands in the war have been appealing time and again to the Ministry of Defense to dedicate Sifrei Torah for the commemoration of their dear ones.
An extensive list of such requests has been compiled in the ministry but thus far only a small part of it could be filled due to the acute shortage of Sifrei Torah in Israel. Rabbi Ralbag expressed his confidence that every rabbi, president, officer and member of synagogues will want to do the utmost to relieve some of the suffering of those bereaved families who made the extreme sacrifice by giving a Sefer Torah for Israel.
From a list of hundreds of such requests Rabbi Ralbag has brought with him a list of 169 individual names of soldiers whose names need to be commemorated. Rabbi Ralbag said he hopes to obtain scrolls not only from synagogues which are closing down or merging with others but also from existing synagogues. This could simultaneously serve as a link between donors and recipients and serve to enhance the ties between them, he stated.
Rabbi Ralbag said those who wish to donate Sifrei Torah should deliver them to the National Council of Young Israel, 3 West 16th St., New York, N.Y. 10011.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
