An Epic Journey — J Life Magazine

By Emily Rau

Photography by Tara Huff, Fat Catz Photography

The Torah is full of incredible yet familiar stories — from Noah’s ark to the burning bush to the exodus from Egypt. How each handwritten scroll gets lovingly and carefully created is another amazing feat shared by these sacred objects. But each Torah also has its own unique story, and a Torah that has been in Dr. Edward Zissman’s family since the early 20th century has quite a tale to tell.

Edward and his wife Phyllis are well known for their many contributions to the Central Florida Jewish community and were instrumental in establishing the Hebrew Day School, now Jewish Academy of Orlando. Lesser known is the story of the Cooper Family Torah, commissioned in the early 1900s by Joseph Cooper, Edward’s maternal grandfather.

Fortunately, while a student at Lake Mary High School years ago, Edward’s daughter Judith wrote an essay about the family’s history with the Torah, preserving the story and allowing it to be shared with each new generation. Judith’s English teacher thought the story was so good, in fact, she entered it into a writing contest for Guideposts magazine, which is known, ironically enough, as a Christian-leaning spiritual publication.

“The essay took second prize,” says Edward. “Judith won $300 and a Smith Corona electric typewriter!”

*Edward’s son David’s briss in April 1977. Wife Phyllis is holding David, Edward is holding the Torah, other son Jonathan is on the left, and daughter Judith is in the center.*

The Journey Begins

According to the family history, Joseph (who commissioned the Torah) was born in 1882 near what is now Kyiv, Ukraine. When he was 18 years old, he was drafted into the Russian Army and forced to break the Jewish customs of his family such as observing Shabbat and keeping kosher. Joseph made a vow to God: “Allow me to survive this ordeal, and I will have a Torah scroll written in your honor.”

And that is exactly what Joseph did after marrying his wife Rebecca and welcoming their first daughter, Dora, in 1906.

The family history explains that "Joseph hired a scribe, and he moved into their home. Like all Torah scribes, the man was a meticulous person who carefully lettered each word, sentence, and paragraph. The Torah had to be absolutely perfect in order to be kosher, and the scribe worked diligently for one year to complete his task. Every day before he began to write, he visited the mikveh, or ritual bath, to clear his mind and purify his body. Every evening, the scribe sat with Joseph and reviewed the day's work. Not only was Joseph doing a mitzvah by having the Torah written, but he was also doing a good deed by taking the scribe into his home as the man was quite old and sickly. As the writings were finished, they were stitched together into a scroll following the ancient laws that dictated its creation. The Torah soon became the Cooper family's prized possession."

"The only item of real value that they owned was the Torah, and it would become an important part of their voyage," according to the family history. "Their journey coincided with the High Holidays that year, and the wealthier Jews in first class asked Joseph if they could use the Torah for their services. Joseph agreed but only on the condition that all of the Jews on the ship be allowed to join them for the prayers. The ship, which had sailed from Hamburg, Germany, was full of Jews from Russia, Poland, Germany, and other parts of Europe, but their common language, Yiddish, and the Hebrew prayers they shared, brought them closer."

A few years after the family settled in Philadelphia, the Great Flu Epidemic of 1918 claimed the life of Joseph at only 34 years old. Less than one month after his death, Rebecca gave birth to a baby boy she named Joseph (nicknamed Joe), after his father. That baby boy grew up and read from the family Torah at his bar mitzvah in 1931. The Coopers then lent the Torah to Shaare Shamayim synagogue in Philadelphia. Joe married his wife Fannie in 1942, and they welcomed four children: Jay (of blessed memory), Janice, Jeffrey, and Joanie.

Dismay and Discovery

When Joe went to retrieve the Torah for Joanie's naming ceremony in 1956, he found that the synagogue had closed. This could have been the end of the Torah's tale, but like any good Jewish story, a bit of a miracle happened. Joe found and persuaded an elderly caretaker who occasionally checked on the synagogue to let him look for the Torah.

Inside, Joe found a Torah cover embroidered with the name "Cooper" but no actual Torah. After searching every storage area to no avail, he went to the basement and discovered one last box. Inside was the Cooper Torah in perfect condition. Today, Joanie and her brother Jeffrey manage the Torah. The Torah has traveled all over the world and been used in numerous family simchas - most recently, for the b'nei mitzvah of Edward's grandchildren, Asher and Maggie Rose Zissman, on March 25 at Congregation Ohev Shalom.

"It was wonderful," says Edward, who ended up going through quite the journey, himself, to bring the Torah from Philadelphia to Orlando.

Planes. Trains, and Automobiles

Edward had flown to Philadelphia to attend the funeral of Aunt Fannie, Joe's wife and the last surviving member of that generation. Joanie, who was also at the funeral, brought the Torah in its usual duffle bag, and Edward planned to take it back to Central Florida on the plane as a carry-on. Despite never having an issue transporting the Torah this way before, Edward was told by TSA agents that the Torah was too big. By the time a supervisor arrived to help, Edward missed his flight, couldn't get on another, and ended up taking an Am the Torah. His niece and nephew, in town for the b’nei mitzvah, tried to take the Torah back to Philadelphia issue with the TSA. They called Edward to come get the Torah, which his son would take to Virginia after the family met up at Camp Ramah Darom in Georgia for Passover. An even better solution arose when the family met a rabbi from Philadelphia at the camp who agreed to bring the Torah back with him.

After many journeys, the Cooper Torah remains a cherished family treasure, protected both by the covers Phyllis Zissman made for it and a family's love.

Story was originally published in print in Summer 2023.