Antwerp, Belgium – At least four Torah books were stolen Friday night from the largest synagogue in Belgium.
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Worshipers who arrived at the main synagogue in Antwerp were shocked to find that it had been broken into.
The burglars apparently broke into the synagogue’s seminary through a door that connects it to a hall. They proceeded to open the Holy Ark and steal the books.
Pinchas Kornfeld, head of the city’s Jewish community, told Ynet on Sunday that it remains unclear how the burglars knew they could enter the seminary through the side hall. “Perhaps they had inside information,” he said.
“The last people to leave the synagogue closed the seminary, and the first ones to arrive in the morning noticed that the Holy Ark had been broken into with special tools,” he said.
Kornfeld said the burglars took between four and six Torah books. “These books are worth a lot of money, and this is why they were apparently stolen. The investigation has just begun, and so far we don’t know anything,” he said.
Books or scrolls?
Rachmunes litzlon.
Men darf zei chappen!
This can’t happen again in Antwerp!
Again it happens….there needs to be better security for sifrei torah in our shuls. In this case, the article suggests it may have been the gabbai or shamis or some other “insider” who cooperateed with the thieves. It can sometimes be difficult to replace this many seforim.
This is very sad and we all hope the thieves get caught really soon, before the sifrei Torah disappear. On a different note, it should be pointed out that the shul pictured is apparently the Bouwmeesterstraatsynagoge, which may be one of the oldest, or even the oldest shul in Antwerp, but is surely not the main synagogue. It is only in recent years that the synagogue again hosts regular minyonim, before that,it was open for simchos only, and yomim tovim (I assume that means yomim noraim).
He said four to six got stolen! Was it four or six? Have they got a thousand sifrei torah and dont know how many got taken?
after the torahs will be retunre theyll probaly make again a “Cover-Up” like by Karlyisburg shul…
Books or scrolls?
“In the case of the Torahs in Antwerp, the motive appears more to be of a financial nature. In other words. They (the thieves) are plain Ganuvim!”
Thats what the story says if you read it carefully. The ganof was associated with someone on the “inside”. Until the actual gaonof is arrested we won’t know who this insider is.
How come the public was never given a general explanation after the karlsburg sifrei Torah were returned, just generic, result of a misunderstanding, related to different opinions between two congregations or anything like that? It seems as if we are making removal of Sifrei torah and then returning them a respectable activity!
They have not safes in antwerp in most shuls like pesevorks and osten look at the picture some stupid grates that can be bended with a left hand, its time to install real safes ai all shuls like in the USA