Four parchment sheets from a Torah, purchased in Russia, have become a talisman for a Polish regiment now fighting “somewhere in the Middle East.”
Some time ago, when the Polish regiment was first organized in the USSR, several of its members were authorized to obtain some parchment to make a regimental drum for the group. In a Russian market-place they purchased the Torah fragments for 400 roubles. But the commander, recognizing what they were, ordered the sheets taken to Palestine when the regiment was sent to the Near East. En route the vessel on which they were travelling narrowly escaped being wrecked in a severe storm and the soldiers attributed their rescue to the holy properties of the Torah.
When they arrived in Palestine, the Poles turned the sheets over to Chief Rabbi Herzog, who was deeply moved and promised to buy the regiment a drum in their place. But this past Friday the commander revisited Herzog and asked that the parchment pages be returned, since his regiment had been ordered into battle and the soldiers were sure the Torah would again save them from harm.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
