Torah

Although the highlight of Barry Slosberg's gallery auction tomorrow is 200 lots of Judaica, there are thousands of other items that may appeal to shoppers. They include silverware, early science fiction and horror books, coins, furniture, toys, sporting equipment and jewelry, much of it consigned by the district attorney's office after being seized during criminal prosecutions. Most of the items appear to be affordable. A Tiffany sterling serving spoon about 10 inches long will sell for about $75 to $150, according to Slosberg associate Eric Cohen.

Cheryl and David Dilks were poking around in a Lambertville antiques shop two summers ago when they stumbled upon something that stopped them in their tracks. Two small Torahs - considered the holiest objects in Judaism - were on the bottom shelf of a tall cabinet, far from the ornate, cushioned arks where they typically are kept and revered in synagogues. Horrified, the Dilkses and a local rabbi rescued the scrolls. This weekend, they will launch a campaign to restore them to their glory.

Kenny Foster, 12, noticed right away that the prayer book was "backwards. " He had no sooner pointed this out than his friend Justin Rawlins, 15, threw a punch at the rabbi. The rabbi asked for it. Kenny, Justin and five other youngsters from St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church were visiting B'nai Jacob Synagogue. There's a lot of visiting between these two religious institutions, and a lot more is planned. The church and synagogue are planning a joint series of Bible study classes this summer focusing on the Book of Psalms.

At first glance, the 10 men gathered around piles of oversize books, trading questions and flipping quickly through the ornate pages, could easily be mistaken for a group of English scholars deciphering Yeats, or mathematicians cracking some long-unsolved theorem. After all, office parks like the one in which a small, Orthodox congregation in Bensalem goes to synagogue are more often home to doctors and lawyers than groups of highly advanced Jewish scholars. But eventually the passionate and often melodic cadence of Hebrew and English moving back and forth in the large, gray-walled room reveals the true nature of the group.

Rabbi Isaac Leizerowski, a Hebrew scribe, demonstrates the art of restoring a Torah at Har Zion Temple in Lower Merion. He taught a class on scribal art to children in the synagogue using a kosher quill and ink, and the students practiced with the quill. The synagogue offers the lesson each year.

Lehiyot is the Hebrew word for "becoming," and tonight, when the members of M'kor Shalom hold their annual Lehiyot Sabbat service, that word will have special significance. Efforts to make the synagogue accessible to the handicapped and welcoming to those with disabilities were recognized by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, an organization of Reform synagogues. After a national rabbinical committee reviewed the Cherry Hill synagogue's Lehiyot application, M'kor Shalom in March became one of seven Reform congregations in North America - and the only one in New Jersey - to receive recognition.

Teaching Jewish women and men that the ancient Hebrew Scriptures hold lessons that can be applied to modern-day life will be the focus of a weekend seminar at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel led by Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell. Reading the Scriptures was once considered to be a privilege reserved only for Jewish men, said Rabbi Elwell, assistant director of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations' Pennsylvania Council and a frequent speaker on Jewish women's history, spirituality and healing.

A key witness in the murder case against Rabbi Fred J. Neulander filed a complaint with Cherry Hill police yesterday, alleging that the rabbi had swindled him by selling him a flawed Torah for $16,000 four years ago. Myron "Pep" Levin told police he had asked Rabbi Neulander to purchase a Torah - a sacred hand-lettered scroll containing the first five books of the Old Testament - in honor of Levin's late wife, Reta. Levin then donated the Torah to Rabbi Neulander's Cherry Hill synagogue, M'kor Shalom.

Myer Adler, 83, former proprietor of Harry's, a market in Powelton Village, and the leader of daily services at Adath Israel in Merion, died of complications from cancer Monday at his home in Wynnefield. Mr. Adler was born in Chudnik, Poland, in 1914. When the Germans invaded in 1939, he moved to the area of Poland dominated by what was then the Soviet Union. Sent to a Siberian labor camp, he worked as a lumberjack in Irkutsk for four years, then spent two years in Stalingrad. After the war, he spent four years in a displaced-persons camp before migrating to the United States in 1949.

Twice a week, Mary Brady works at Temple University's Paley Library. She stows her backpack - stuffed with her college textbooks, CD player and wallet - behind a reference desk, where she typically stands. Last week, a brazen thief sneaked behind the desk and swiped the bag. But it's not the credit cards, driver's license or pricey electronic equipment that Brady cares about. It's a Hebrew prayer book - a simple blue, hardcover book with gold lettering that's worth almost nothing to a crook.