Iconic books are texts revered as objects of power rather than just as words of instruction, information, or insight. In religious and secular rituals around the globe, people carry, show, wave, touch and kiss books and other texts, as well as read them. This blog chronicles such events and activities. (For more about iconic books, see the links to the Iconic Books Project at left.)

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Torah Scrolls Stolen

The Kenosha News reports that a Torah Scroll was stolen sometime in the last two weeks from an Orthodox synagogue in the Wisconsin town. The thieves seem to have understood the iconic value of the scroll since they took only it and a laptop computer, leaving behind silver handles and other objects of value. Ron Sanders, president of Congregation Bnai Zedek Chabad, "theorized that the theft might have been an attempt to sabotage the upcoming Passover holiday, which begins Saturday at sundown; members of the Orthodox congregation would not have been able to conduct complete services without their holy scrolls." Another synagogue, however, is loaning Bnai Zedek Chabad one of their Torahs so that Passover services can go ahead.

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