This is straight from CNN:

Stolen Torah returned to Arizona synagogue after Craigslist ad

From CNN’s Dan Gilgoff:

A Torah that was stolen from an Arizona synagogue on Monday has been returned after a Craigslist ad offered a $500 reward for the scrolls, the synagogue’s rabbi said Saturday.
“The hardest thing to figure out is what this person was expecting to do with it,” said Rabbi Reuven Mann, who leads the synagogue in Phoenix. “There is a market for people that buy and sell Torahs, but it has do be done legitimately.”

A member of Mann’s congregation, Young Israel of Phoenix, posted the Craigslist ad Tuesday, a day after the Torah – which the rabbi says is valued around $35,000 – was discovered missing in an apparent theft.
“I thought that the person who took it didn’t know what they were doing,” said Sam Saks, who placed the ad, noting that a prayer shawl and tefillin – boxes containing scripture that some Jewish men wear during prayer – were also missing.

“The Torah itself was a big enough heist,” Saks said. “If you’ve already stolen a Lexus, why would you take an ashtray?”
“Reward – Torah scroll, Hebrew – $500” his ad said, “…no questions asked.”

The ad included pictures of Torahs – which contain the first five books of the Bible inscribed by hand – in case someone had found the congregation’s scroll but didn’t know what it was.

Saks said he received an e-mail response later Tuesday, from a woman who claimed to have found the Torah in a Phoenix trash can.

When the woman did not immediately agree to return the Torah, Saks e-mailed her a message from Mann and the congregation’s president explaining its significance and asking to get it back in time for Friday night services.

“The trick was to let the person know we were not interested in legal action and that we just wanted to the Torah back,” said Saks, who is an attorney.

Saks asked her to meet him at the synagogue on Friday afternoon. She showed up Friday morning instead, dropping off a garbage bag containing the Torah, in the same condition as before, the prayer shawl and the tefillin.

The congregation’s president, Farley Weiss, said that he has asked Phoenix police not to press charges. “The explanation that this woman gave us is that she had nothing to do with the crime,” Weiss told CNN.

The Phoenix Police Department did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday night.

Saks declined to share the woman’s e-mail address, saying he promised to maintain her anonymity.

She has not yet claimed the reward.

“We may not share the same religion,” Saks said the woman, who described herself as a Christian, wrote to him in an e-mail Saturday night. “I believe there is a higher power and believe that there is a right and wrong.”



Pic from JewishIdaho.com

 The Breslov Center has posted a message from someone looking to collect stories.  The message reads:

I am putting together a book about Gerim and plan to include stories of Gerim who became Chassidim and those who were inspired by Chassidic teachings.

Please contact me if you are interested to have your story included. I am particularly interested to include stories about how Gerim first discovered Yiddishkeit, overcame obstacles during the geirus process, and what attracted them to Chasssidic teachings.


Dov ben Avraham
dovbenavraham@gmail.com

…click here to read.

Click here to donate

No, it’s not me!!  I prefer to stick to biking for Chai Lifeline.
However, I do have a good friend who’s wife has committed to run in the Chai Lifeline ING Miami Marathon on January 30th 2011.

She’s dedicating her run in memory of Rebbitzen Zlata Geisinky OBM, who helped run the Chabad of Bethesda and Chevy Chase.

If you are able to help out and sponsor the marathon runner, I know it will be very helpful.  To donate, please click here.
May her efforts bring joy to many who need help.

Exclusive: Producer Charges Anti-Semitism in Iowa Tax-Credit Probe

If you are interested, I’ve updated my biking blog, here.  The big ride is this Sunday morning.  I’m looking forward to it, but I hope it’s not 90 degrees at 6 AM.
If you are interested in sponsoring me (any amount would be great) and helping to raise money for Chai Lifeline you can donate here.
Thanks!!!

Rav Shwartz, the author of the Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh seforim, will be in the U.S. the week before Shavuos. He will be speaking in Flatbush, Boro Park, Far Rockaway/5 Towns, Monsey, & Lakewood. Click on this link to see the full schedule.

For private meetings with the Rav in Monsey or Boro Park, please call 718-249-6047 for an appointment.

For the one day seminar in Flatbush this Sunday, May 9th, it will be at Rabbi Mayer Fund’s Shul, Cong. Sheves Achim in Flatbush, Brooklyn (1517 Ave. H, off corner of East 16th [across from Q Train]). The shiurim will be at 12, 3, & 6 PM. All proceeds are going to publish more seforim by Rav Shwartz. $20 admission $200 sponsorship (includes private meeting with the Rav). CLICK HERE or call 516-668-6397 to register.
 
The information above was supplied by Dixie Yid.

Biking update #2 is posted here.