Ukrainian Appeals Court Says Kiev Synagogue Can Keep Loaned Torah Scrolls

JTA earlier this week reported on a mid-October ruling by the Kiev Economic Court of Appeals in the Ukraine that allows the city's Central Synagogue to retain 18 Torah scrolls that the State Archives Committee wanted returned for inspection, fearing they may have been damaged.  The Committee first requested return of the scrolls in 2007 (Jerusalem Post). The scrolls were seized by the Soviets in the 1920's, but after Ukrainian independence in 1991-- with no restitution law in place-- some scrolls were loaned back to synagogues under unclear arrangements with the government.  The particular scrolls at issue here were loaned back to Central Synagogue in 1995.