The History of the Cheslow Family Torah:
or The Little Torah that Could
By Jerry Cheslow
Although junior size Torot are not that common these days, there were times
and places where they were the norm. The Marranos used them in Spain
because they were easy to hide, and just being Jewish, worshipping as a Jew,
was punishable by death. In the shtetls of Europe, they were used by teachers
of trope and Tanakh because their hovels were small, their families were large
and a regular sized Torah just took up too much room. Also, like the Marranos,
East European Jews were often forced to leave their surroundings, and a small
Torah was portable.
In the United States, there are two very well-known junior Torot. One was
presented to President Harry S. Truman by Israel’s first president, Chaim
Weizman, on the 11the day after Israel declared its independence. Truman,
who had not been briefed by his advisors, actually didn’t know what a Torah
was. He looked at it, then looked at Weizman and said, “Thanks, I’ve always
wanted one of these.” In 1956, three years after the conclusion of his
Presidency, Truman was very much aware of the significance of the Torah. In
a meeting with Abba Eban, then Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations,
citizen Harry S. Truman showed off the Torah and said “THIS is my prized
possession.” That Torah scroll is now in the Truman Library in Independence,
Missouri.
The second junior Torah that you might have heard about was carried into
space on the Shuttle Columbia by astronaut Dr. Jeffrey A. Hoffman on
February 22, 1996. On March 2, 1996, as Columbia circled over Jerusalem,
Dr. Hoffman read from the portion of Genesis, illustrating the link between our
past and the fast-paced, high-tech world in which we live. Dr. Hoffman
wrapped his junior Torah in his grandfather’s tallit to symbolize his own
generational ties.
That brings me to the Cheslow Family Torah. We don’t know how it came
into being—except that it was written on parchment by a scribe, using the
traditional quill and vegetable-based ink. We DO know that it came to the
United States with my grandfather, Reuven Mordecai (Max) Cheslow in 1910.
Like so many other Jewish young men, Max had fled Russia to escape the
army, into which Jewish boys were drafted for a period of 25 years. The Czar
had hoped that a quarter century of military service would be long enough to
eradicate all traces of their Judaism. But Max literally brought his Judaism and
his love of Torah with him to this new land.
The Torah really was not his, but belonged to my grandmother, Minya, as a
Yerusha, an inheritance, that had been passed from mother to oldest daughter
for many generations. We do not know how many generations, but we know
that the scroll is hundreds of years old. This Torah was passed to my father’s
sister who is now 83 years old and living in California with her husband, a
retired cantor. Since they are childless, and since my uncle had high hopes that
my brother would become a cantor rather than a lawyer, he entrusted this
family treasure to my brother Alvin.
My father had the Torah restored by a scribe in Lakewood—a process that
took more than three years because of the junior size of the letters in this junior
Torah. Since that time—five years ago—we have used this Torah in many of
our religious celebrations and thereby brought generations of my grandmothers
to the to those smachot (celebrations) with us.
Because my family believes that a Torah is not meant to sit in a safe deposit
box and is Torat Chaim, living Torah, my father and my brother have
graciously agreed to allow us to use this family heirloom in our Chavurah
services. Besides having the Torah restored, my father made the beautiful Aron
Kodesh in which it will reside. It was a labor of love that he performed for his
parents and the generations that preceded them.
or The Little Torah that Could
By Jerry Cheslow
Although junior size Torot are not that common these days, there were times
and places where they were the norm. The Marranos used them in Spain
because they were easy to hide, and just being Jewish, worshipping as a Jew,
was punishable by death. In the shtetls of Europe, they were used by teachers
of trope and Tanakh because their hovels were small, their families were large
and a regular sized Torah just took up too much room. Also, like the Marranos,
East European Jews were often forced to leave their surroundings, and a small
Torah was portable.
In the United States, there are two very well-known junior Torot. One was
presented to President Harry S. Truman by Israel’s first president, Chaim
Weizman, on the 11the day after Israel declared its independence. Truman,
who had not been briefed by his advisors, actually didn’t know what a Torah
was. He looked at it, then looked at Weizman and said, “Thanks, I’ve always
wanted one of these.” In 1956, three years after the conclusion of his
Presidency, Truman was very much aware of the significance of the Torah. In
a meeting with Abba Eban, then Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations,
citizen Harry S. Truman showed off the Torah and said “THIS is my prized
possession.” That Torah scroll is now in the Truman Library in Independence,
Missouri.
The second junior Torah that you might have heard about was carried into
space on the Shuttle Columbia by astronaut Dr. Jeffrey A. Hoffman on
February 22, 1996. On March 2, 1996, as Columbia circled over Jerusalem,
Dr. Hoffman read from the portion of Genesis, illustrating the link between our
past and the fast-paced, high-tech world in which we live. Dr. Hoffman
wrapped his junior Torah in his grandfather’s tallit to symbolize his own
generational ties.
That brings me to the Cheslow Family Torah. We don’t know how it came
into being—except that it was written on parchment by a scribe, using the
traditional quill and vegetable-based ink. We DO know that it came to the
United States with my grandfather, Reuven Mordecai (Max) Cheslow in 1910.
Like so many other Jewish young men, Max had fled Russia to escape the
army, into which Jewish boys were drafted for a period of 25 years. The Czar
had hoped that a quarter century of military service would be long enough to
eradicate all traces of their Judaism. But Max literally brought his Judaism and
his love of Torah with him to this new land.
The Torah really was not his, but belonged to my grandmother, Minya, as a
Yerusha, an inheritance, that had been passed from mother to oldest daughter
for many generations. We do not know how many generations, but we know
that the scroll is hundreds of years old. This Torah was passed to my father’s
sister who is now 83 years old and living in California with her husband, a
retired cantor. Since they are childless, and since my uncle had high hopes that
my brother would become a cantor rather than a lawyer, he entrusted this
family treasure to my brother Alvin.
My father had the Torah restored by a scribe in Lakewood—a process that
took more than three years because of the junior size of the letters in this junior
Torah. Since that time—five years ago—we have used this Torah in many of
our religious celebrations and thereby brought generations of my grandmothers
to the to those smachot (celebrations) with us.
Because my family believes that a Torah is not meant to sit in a safe deposit
box and is Torat Chaim, living Torah, my father and my brother have
graciously agreed to allow us to use this family heirloom in our Chavurah
services. Besides having the Torah restored, my father made the beautiful Aron
Kodesh in which it will reside. It was a labor of love that he performed for his
parents and the generations that preceded them.
Cheslow Family Torah
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