Torah Dedicated aboard Aircraft Carrier
From the Jerusalem Post –
A Torah rescued from Lithuania has a home on the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman.
The carrier is one of the few Navy vessels to have its own Torah. Few ships are large enough to need one, said Sam Werbel, an organizer of a dedication ceremony Sunday attended by 500 community members and dignitaries. The audience included Holocaust survivors.
“This is not a ceremony alone,” said Mark E. Talisman, founder and president of the Project Judaica Foundation. “It’s about humanity or a lack thereof. It’s about all of us understanding the dignity of human life.”‘
This dedication is significant for another reason:
On May 14, 1948, 11 minutes after the nation of Israel was created, President Truman recognized it diplomatically. Israel’s first president, Chaim Weizmann, thanked Truman with a Torah that now belongs to the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library.
This absolutely touches my heart. The meaningfulness and mitzvah behind it is profound.
I served aboard the USS Forrestal (CV-59), now decomissioned. While in the shipyard for overhaul in 1984, we received a torah for the chapel. The CO of the ship, Captain
March, helped dedicate this new arrival to our ship.The chaplain, Lt Sandano was a Roman Catholic whose father worked for a Kosher butcher, so he was a pretty cool guy. I was one of about 4 Jews who attended from the ship’s company. I was so proud of my Navy and my country at that moment. People ask me why I still serve. I tell them that in some other countries an attack on a synagouge is cause for dancing in the streets, here it is a bias crime. A policemean stands outside my synagogue on Yom Kippur to prevent such things. While our country is not perfect all the time, overall, it has been a welcoming home for those who want to practice their faith.