The Torah scroll is revered as the repository of our nation’s destiny, law and charter. In a way, it is also like a memento of our national encounter with God at the Revelation at Mt. Sinai – the event that created our national identity. The ninth-century Jewish philosopher, Sa’adiah Gaon, went so far as to say, “Our nation is a nation, only by virtue of its Torah.”
The Torah is also the national treasure of the Jewish people, but unlike any other. The original Constitution of the United States is preserved under bulletproof glass and guarded by the Secret Service, but every Jewish community possesses a copy of the Torah.