A few months ago, I met this older man at the Jerusalem Conference hosted by the American Institute for Advanced Biblical Studies. He had a few items for sale including an old Esther Megillah Scroll (which he sold at the conference) and most interestingly a 150 year old Torah Scroll! It seemed to be in very good shape (although I am no expert) and very usable although it clearly is not kosher. His asking price was an astonishingly low $2,500! Torah Scrolls can range from $10K-$60K or more so this is quite a deal. A scroll will typically take a sofer (official Hebrew scribe) almost a year to complete!
The man bought the scroll at a store in Tzfat, Israel a few years back. It is quite beautiful. It does not have the Torah Scroll rollers so those would have to be purchased and attached separately (typically a couple hundred bucks). I contacted him again recently to see if the Torah Scroll was still available and it is and he said he was willing to sell it for $2,150 because he wants someone to be blessed by using it! Also, the Scroll is in Houston, Texas and probably should not be shipped so we would need to go and get it. Let me know if you are interested in helping to bring a Torah Scroll to Merriam. Any money donated is tax deductible if it is given to Kingdom Living.
That would be awesome. I am interested in any road trips regarding Torah scrolls. And I would like to give.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we should come up with a fundraiser!
I agree with Kate. You should have a fundraiser and call it "Bowl for the Scroll". All proceeds from the bowling tourney could go to the trip/purchase. Or wait, maybe "bowls for scrolls" and do like a big soup dinner where everyone pays a certain amount per bowl of delicious soup?
ReplyDeleteEither way, this is an amazing find and I hope that the KL community will soon be the proud caretakers of this scroll. I would like to give as well.