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New Torah Scroll for Cork Jewish Community

Post-pandemic return to congregation based events spurred gift

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Members of Congregation Agudas Achim-Ezrath Israel in Malden present a Torah to Sophia Spiegel, secretary of the Cork Jewish Community in Ireland. (Photo: Facebook)

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On March 12th, the Cork Jewish Community (Ireland) accepted a Torah scroll, very generously donated by Congregation Agudas Achim-Ezrath Israel, at a moving ceremony at their synagogue in Malden, Massachusetts. Attended by members of the community, mayor of Malden Gary Christenson, and by Cork Jewish Community members on Zoom, CJC Secretary Sophia Spiegel accepted the gift for the emerging Irish .

The Torah is the central pillar of Jewish religious practice, a handwritten parchment scroll containing the five books of Moses. Its arrival in Cork marks a significant enrichment of religious Jewish practice in Cork.

Upon the closure of the Cork Hebrew Congregation’s synagogue on South Terrace in 2016, the synagogue’s Torah scrolls were moved away from Cork. A dedicated group of Jews, living mostly in County Cork, decided to continue offering Jewish community events, with a Reform flavour, but welcoming Jews of all denominations, including secular Jews, and the Munster Jewish Community was born, which changed its name to Cork Jewish Community in 2022.

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Since the start of the pandemic, the Cork Jewish Community has hosted fortnightly Erev Shabbat (Friday evening) services, festival events (Chanukah, Purim, Pesach, Shavuot, etc) and a lecture series via Zoom. These services and events have not only served community members in Cork and the whole of Munster, but the entirety of Ireland, with international members from the USA to South Africa regularly also joining in.

Monthly in-person meetings were initiated as soon as lockdown ended. With the increase in services and requests for Bar- and Bat-Mitzvahs, it became clear that a Torah scroll was badly needed.

Rabbi David Kudan from Massachusetts, who supports the Cork Jewish Community whenever he is at his holiday home in West Cork, came to the rescue. Thanks to his help, the Boston and Cork communities connected and the incredibly generous offer of the donation of a Torah scroll was made.

The inaugural service for the scroll will be led by Rabbi David Kudan on Thursday 17th of August in Cork City Hall during National Heritage Week, with support from Cork City Council.

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The committee of the Cork Jewish Community thanked “Rabbi Kudan, Barbara Weiner and the board of the Congregation Agudas Achim-Ezrath Israel for this special gift, once again reaffirming the special bond between Ireland and Boston.”

A painting by Jack Cornhouse, a member of Cork Jewish Community, depicting the inside of the former synagogue on South Terrace, was given to the Malden Community as a small token of thanks for their generosity.

Cork Jewish Community does not yet have its own premises, and depends on other organisations for providing a venue for services and events, but hopes, in the near future, to find a premises in Cork city for the growing community to meet, celebrate and share, and to house its new Torah scroll.

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Thank you for choosing TheJ.Ca as your source for Canadian Jewish News.

We do news differently!

Our positioning as a Zionist News Media platform sets us apart from the rest. While other Canadian Jewish media are advocating increasingly biased progressive political and social agendas, TheJ.Ca is providing more and more readers with a welcome alternative and an ideological home.

We revealed the incursion of anti-Israel progressive elements such as IfNotNow into our communities. We have exposed the distorted hateful agenda of the “progressive” left political radicals who brought Linda Sarsour to our cities, and we were first to report on many disturbing incidents of Nazi-based hate towards Jews across Canada.

But we can’t do it alone. We need your HELP!

Our ability to thrive and grow in 2020 and beyond depends on the generosity of committed readers and supporters like you.

Monthly support is a great way to help us sustain our operations. We greatly appreciate any contributions you can make to support Jewish Journalism.

We thank you for your ongoing support.

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