No Evidence Sefar Torah Was Delivered to Igbos
The Claim
200-year-old Sefar Torah arrives in Igboland.
Emerging story
Facebook page Mazi Nnamdi Kanu live broadcast recently shared a post alleging that a 200-year-old Sefar Torah has been delivered to the Igbo Jews by a visiting team from Israel. The post has been liked more than 200 times and shared more than 80 times.
Misbar’s Analysis
MENA: The claim that a Sefar Torah has been brought into Nigeria cannot be verified. A google search shows that the information only appears on a few unpopular blogs. For a news item of such magnitude, it is questionable that the report does not appear on any trusted news platform.
According to the British Library, the Sefar Torah is the holiest and most valued object in Judaism. It is the physical expression of the Jewish people’s connection with God.
Thesofarcentre.com describes the Sefar Torah as ‘’a long scroll containing the entire text of the five books of Moses, hand-written by a pious scribe in the original Hebrew text. It is usually rolled up around two ornate wooden shafts and attached to either end of the scroll.’’ It is usually kept in the Ark of each synagogue and is routinely read aloud in all synagogues.
Going by this analysis, Misbar classifies the claim as suspicious.
