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„Ha egy zsinagógának szüksége van egy új Tórára, az azt jelenti, hogy az a közösség él” A Tóra mint judaika egy zsinagógai közösség rítusainak és narratíváinak tükrében
Translated Title: “If a synagogue needs a new Sefer Torah, it means the congregation is alive”Torah as a Judaica in light of the description of rites and narratives collected during fieldwork in a synagogue
Author(s): Tóth, Katalin
Editor(s): Havay, Viktória; Veress, Dávid
Date: 2018
Topics: Anthropology, Ethnography, Main Topic: Other, Jewish Community, Synagogues, Ritual, Religious Observance and Practice
Abstract: What does the most important Judaica, the Torah scroll titled the Sefer Torah mean to the members of the congregation? This paper attempts to answer this question by analysing the relation between rites performed and individual narratives within the context of cultural anthropological fieldwork in the Visegrádi Street Synagogue. According to cultural anthropological interpretation, the Torah scroll has as much significance as it has to the individuals within the congregation. The significance and the memories held by congregants are distinct and unique for each individual, as each member has a different experience and a different way of “meeting” the Sefer Torah for the first time. The first section of the paper briefly examines and describes the physical appearance and symbolism of one of the Visegrádi Street Synagogue’s Torah scrolls. The second section, serving as the main body of the paper presents the practice of three rituals in mosaic-like images: the morning Torah reading on Sabbath; the rite of restoration and inauguration of an old Torah scroll; and the festivities related to the Simchat Torah. Through this exposition, the paper illustrates how the Torah, the most important sacral object, gains individual significances.