Tzedakah We Love Monday: Universal Torah Registry

The Universal Torah Registry? Had I thought about this? Not really. I know I've held a Torah that was smuggled out of Germany in the 1940s. I know I've touched a Torah that was rescued from a burning building. I know each Torah has a story and we tell their stories in our congregations and families and that's that. But, this is Torah tracking on an entirely different level.

When I first heard about Universal Torah Registry, I thought Who the fuck steals a Torah? But, yeah, people are shady and after digging around a little, it turns out there is actually a Torah black market. Can you imagine how that deal would go? Shonda and a half. Can you imagine buying a Torah on eBay? How would you trust the story the seller gave you? Anyway. It took two years of research involving rabbis and crime specialists to figure out how to halachically catalog a scroll.

So, to catalog a Torah scroll, you get a registration kit for your congregation that includes a form to record various characteristics (Uh… in Hebrew? Rolled up? I'm an ass, I know, I know.), and a specifically coded template. Using a tiny needle, "a special code of micro-perforations is applied to strategic places in the scroll." Then, your congregation gets a certificate of registry.

So, if you do find your Torah missing, you call them up and it can, theoretically, be tracked down if someone tries to resell it and the potential buyer checks it out with the registry beforehand. What about your congregation's scrolls? Are they registered? Maybe a fabulous project to bring to your social action chair. Or, plan a fundraiser to cover the registration fee. Or, be like the NYC police officer who paid the registry fee for his shul himself when he heard about the organization.