Monticello, NY – Singing and Dancing on the Streets as Stolen Torah Returns

Monticello, NY – The spiritual center of the Landfield Avenue Synagogue returned home Tuesday as a crowd of jubilant members and supporters carried the congregation’s once-stolen Torah from the Monticello police station to the synagogue.

Police Chief Doug Solomon opened the station’s door at about 5:15 p.m. to hand the $35,000 scroll to Landfield Rabbi Ben-Zion Chanowitz. The exchange set off a 30-minute celebration of dancing and singing as the scroll was walked back to Landfield.

“Thank God almighty that he chose that the Torah shall dwell back with us,” Chanowitz said.

The procession represented a victory for the congregation’s members. Many suffered weeks of anguish after the Torah was stolen between the evening of Dec. 30 and the following morning.

It was Chanowitz who arrived at about 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 31 to find his office and the synagogue secretary’s office tossed, with $200 in charity money missing.

Someone also made off with the congregation’s Torah, which was purchased a decade ago following a yearlong fundraising campaign.

“In my career, I’ve dealt with crime and criminals,” said retired county Judge Burt Ledina, a decades-long member of Landfield.

“But this had a personal effect.”

Ledina was among more than 50 people who accompanied the Torah on its journey up Broadway to Bank Street, then on to the synagogue at the corner of North Street and Landfield Avenue.

The lively procession included local officials and students from Yeshiva Zichron Mayir in Mountaindale. All passed the Sullivan County Jail, where Woodridge resident Christopher Colvill is being held in connection with the theft.

Colvill, 41, was arrested Jan. 24 in possession of the Torah; police charged him with third-degree criminal possession of stolen property.