Turkey: Surviving Maglias Esther Scrolls Handed Over To The Jewish community
After the recent devastating earthquake in Turkey, a delegation of ZAKA voluntary emergency response teams from Israel scoured the ruins of Antakya, Turkey, an old local man approached them and gave them something they were neither looking for nor expecting to find — centuries-old Megillas Esther scrolls • Full Story
VINnews
After the recent devastating earthquake in Turkey, a delegation of ZAKA voluntary emergency response teams from Israel scoured the ruins of Antakya, Turkey, searching for the remains of the president of the tiny, 2,200-year-old Jewish community.
After they had located the president and his wife, who were tragically killed in the earthquake, an old local man approached them and gave them something they were neither looking for nor expecting to find — centuries-old Megillas Esther scrolls.
The man approached Major Haim Otmazgin, commander of ZAKA’s search and rescue force, and handed him the scrolls, according to a report by Ynet.
“The last head of our community has now tragically passed away and with our proximity to Syria, I’d hate to see the scrolls fall in the wrong hands,” the man told Major Otmazgin. “Please guard them and make sure our community is remembered.
A team of ZAKA volunteers, as well as IDF Home Front Command soldiers, located the body of Saul Cenudioglu, the head of Turkey’s Antakya Jewish community, last week. Cenudioglu and his wife Fortuna were both found dead in the ruins of their home. Fortuna’s body had been rescued and identified the evening before on Thursday night by the same group of volunteers and soldiers.
Major Otmazgin obliged, pledging to keep the scrolls safe and personally oversee their transport. He is consulting with Chabad Shliach in Istanbul – Rabbi Mendy Chitrik to decide with whom to entrust the valuable scrolls.
“In my capacity as a ZAKA volunteer of several decades, this is one of the most moving moments of my life,” said Major Otmazgin. “I’m truly honored to save such a significant historical document and to make sure the heritage of Antakya’s Jewish community remains intact, even after the quake reduced it to nearly nothing.”
The Israeli mission returned home safely last week after toiling to save lives under harsh conditions for days. While the Israeli rescuers managed to pull almost two dozen survivors out of the rubble, they also retrieved many bodies of people who weren’t as fortunate, such as the leader of Antakya’s Jewish community Saul Cenudioglu and his wife Fortuna.
92
Join ChabadInfo's News Roundup and alerts for the HOTTEST Chabad news and updates!
Related Posts:
Most Popular
New Videos
Editor's Picks
