THOUSAND OAKS : 2 Torahs Will Honor Parents Who Perished

It has long troubled Martin Glade that he cannot visit his parents’ graves.

His mother and father both perished in the Holocaust, back in their native Hungary. Glade and his sister, Agoura Hills residents, endured the war in German concentration camps. But their parents never even made it that far. They died in a roundup of Jews outside Budapest in March, 1944.

With no graves to tend, no cemeteries to visit, Glade has felt unable to honor his parents. Until now.

On March 3, Glade and his sister, Irene Goldhammer, will present Temple Etz Chaim two Torah scrolls and a hand-embroidered cloth inscribed in memory of family members killed during the Holocaust.

Since they worship in the Thousand Oaks temple, Glade and Goldhammer will be, in a sense, praying at their parents’ memorial.

“One of the things I grew up with as a child was that you should visit your parents frequently, and if they pass on, you should be visiting their graves,” Glade said. “This will be in lieu of that.”

Temple Etz Chaim already owns several Torah scrolls. But the donated parchments are compact and lightweight, easier to handle than the traditional models, Rabbi Shimon Paskow said.

“These are perfect,” Paskow said. “They’re beautifully done.”

Torah scrolls contain the first five books of the Bible hand-written in elaborate calligraphy on delicate parchment. The unique and valuable scrolls are so honored that they receive formal burials in Jewish cemeteries when they fade or crumble with age. If treated with care, however, they can last for hundreds of years, passing from generation to generation, Paskow said.

Temple Etz Chaim will hold a small ceremony during Shabbat service at 8:15 p.m. March 3 to mark the donation. Goldhammer and Martin and Sally Glade will present the scrolls under a ceremonial canopy supported by their children and grandchildren.

“It doesn’t heal the wounds,” Glade said, “but you do the best you can. It’s going to be my pleasure to present it.”