By Stephen Stirling
Eight Torah scrolls will be returned to the Kew Gardens Hills Jewish Center in time for the High Holy Days later this month following the arrest of a custodian and another man, who police have accused of snatching the $500,000 religious artifacts last month.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said detectives from the 107th Precinct arrested Eric Giraldo, 23, and Alan Lozano, 28, last Thursday for allegedly stealing the eight religious documents of Jewish law and learning Aug. 16.
Brown said Giraldo, who was a custodian at the Kew Gardens Hills Jewish Center, allegedly used his access to the facility to steal the Torahs and hide them in Lozano's apartment.
“It is alleged that the defendant intended to sell the Torahs for his own personal financial gain. The Torahs were recovered last night in a closet at Mr. Lozano's home,” Brown said in a statement last Thursday.
“I spoke this morning with Alan Girard, president of the Jewish Center of Kew Gardens Hills, and assured him that, consistent with our need to have the Torahs available for the prosecution of this case, I will make every effort to have the Torahs returned to his synagogue in time for the High Holy Days later this month,” Brown said.
Giraldo, of 71-25 Main St., was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on charges of grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, while Lozano, of 165-09 Union Turnpike., was arraigned on criminal possession of stolen property, the DA said.
Brown said if convicted, each could face up to 15 years in prison.
The theft shocked the congregation, which did not realize the scrolls had been taken until conducting a religious service because no alarms had been tripped and there was no sign of forced entry.
“I break down every time somebody asks about it,” said Herman Saltzman, the synagogue's chairman of memorials and pews, shortly after the theft. “We got to the point in the ceremony where the curtains are drawn to reveal the Torah, and all that was there was a white background.”
Each scroll takes about a year to be written out by hand on parchment or stretched skin, and the handwriting of each Torah scribe is not only discernible, but can be identified by checking with religious authorities, he said.
He said one Torah, the smallest of the nine kept in the sanctuary, was left in a corner of the ark and has since been moved elsewhere in the synagogue.
It would be difficult to sell the scrolls to a reputable buyer, but not impossible to sell them, Saltzman said.
“Is there a market? Absolutely. Are there identification marks? Yes,” he said.
Reach reporter Stephen Stirling by e-mail at Sstirling@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, ext. 138.
