New York — Five Torahs are giving and receiving new life around the United States these days.

A once-thriving Jewish synagogue in the Pelham Parkway section of the Bronx borough of New York placed an advertisement in Jewish newspapers to sell some of their Torahs. Struggling with the financial burdens brought on by mass migration of Jews to other parts of New York, the synagogue's board decided to sell Torahs that were no longer being used, in order to raise some badly needed cash, while keeping as many scrolls as were needed for prayer services.

Philanthropist Matthew Maltz, together with his cousin Lawrence Gaslow, donated the Torahs to the Lubavitch Word Headquarters to help Chabad-Lubavitch establish new communities where Jewish people are just beginning to connect with their Judaism. They also paid for the refurbishing of the scrolls by a qualified scribe, to ensure that they were ritually acceptable.

Rabbi Avrohom Berns, who first approached Maltz, says that purchasing the Torahs serves two important purposes: it helps the older synagogue stay open for longtime congregants, and helps the Lubavitch emissaries in their community-building work.

For their first round five Torahs have been loaned to new Chabad-Lubavitch centers established in California, Connecticut, South Carolina, and on Long Island and Puerto Rico.

"I feel it is important to participate in this kind of work," said Maltz of his efforts to bring the Torahs into use. "Whenever we can do something to help Jewish life in this way it is very gratifying." Maltz and his relatives have actively supported many Jewish education endeavors.

"The Torah, the premiere text of Jewish observance, is equated to nothing less than life itself in countless passages of Jewish literature," Rabbi Berns said. "Through the joint efforts of the Maltz and Gaslow families and Chabad-Lubavitch, the Torahs will help bring Jewish life to thousands."