Scroll the size of a shoe box to be placed in IDF submarines for the first time in history
Akiva Novick
„Out of the depths I cry to you,’ says the Song of Ascents in the Book of Psalms. These words will soon receive a different meaning, when a Torah scroll will be placed in Navy submarines for the first time in history.
Every permanent Israel Defense Forces base has a Torah scroll which is read on Shabbat, as well as on Mondays and Thursday.
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Since the army began using submarines, no Torah scrolls have been brought in as hardly any religious soldiers served there. But the situation changed recently, after some hesder yeshiva students and even one haredi fighter joined the unit.
A family which donated several Torah scrolls to military bases in the past decided recently to donate another one, and the military rabbi they approached suggested that they donate it to the submarine fleet, whose fighters often spend long period of time in high seas – underwater.
There was only one problem: A submarine is a vessel with very limited room, in which every single space is well calculated. In other words, there is no place for a standard Torah scroll.
What did the family do? It ensured that the scroll would be about one-quarter of its regular size, so that it could be stored in a case the size of a shoe box.
The writing of the Torah scroll will be completed in the coming days, and according to Navy officials, it will be transferred from submarine to submarine by demand.
Haredi website Ladaat reported that the Torah scroll would be handed to the Navy in a festive ceremony in the presence of military rabbis and the donating family. It will be placed in the submarine by a rabbi with a high security classification.