Torahs at St. Thomas Synagogue - including a Torah recovered from the Nazis

A fascinating and passionate description of the torahs at the St. Thomas Synagogue in Charlotte Amalie, the capital of the U.S. Virgin Islands, located on the island of St. Thomas. The tour is provided by the synagogue's cantor, Diane Becker Krasnick, originally from Madison, Wisconsin.

The ark includes 2 torahs from St. Eustasius or Brazil that are 300-400 years old, a Sephardic torah from Morocco that is about 200 years old, plus a torah rescued from the Nazis after WWII, originally from Czechoslovakia, with a Nazi "identification number" on one handle. The Cantor sings a few lines from the Moroccan torah.

This was recorded on Wed., Nov. 2, 2011 during a Caribbean Princess cruise stopover; there were 6 ships in port that day, so the Cantor was kept busy doing tours, and was extremely upbeat in spite of the continuous flow of visitors that day.

See another video on YouTube where the Cantor describes her personal challenge and how spirituality helped her overcome that challenge, followed by a beautiful and special prayer.

The floor of the St. Thomas Synagogue is completely covered in sand, and is derived from the synagogue's Sephardic founders more than 200 years ago. The sand originates from the Spanish Inquisition in 1492, when Jews were forced to convert to Christianity or face execution. Many secretly continued to practice Judaism, praying in their basements, covering the floor with sand to muffle the sound of their voices.

The synagogue still retains all of the architecture and style of its Sephardic founders, including two rows of pews that face each other, and is designated as a U.S. national historic site.

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Travel & Events

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• Cantor
• Synagogue
• Hazzan
• St. Thomas
• Travel
• Caribbean Princess
• religion
• Jewish
• torahs
• sephardic
• nazi confiscation
• nazi recovery
• Judaism
• Culture

[kagarman]

the guider looks so vulgar in sinagogue, and she can't touch toras.