Leeuwarden is in Friesland, a province in the north of the Netherlands Holland, was a vibrant Jewish community in pre-World War II Europe. Together with the surrounding villages it was home to 140,000 Jews. During the Holocaust 105,000 people from the community perished. During World War II, members of the gentile community preserved the synagogue that had been built in the 19th Century. The synagogue's interior fittings, silver artifacts, three Torah scrolls and mantels, the finials, the hand washing sink for Cohanim, the ark and its cloth curtain, and the bima were all saved. These treasured objects, witness to the darkest chapter of our history, are now being used by the children of AMIT's Kfar Batya school in Raanana, Israel. At AMIT's Kfar Batya school campus, the synagogue serves as a central location for its students. Together, they pray there three times a day. Kfar Batya began as a youth village in 1947, absorbing and educating immigrants to Israel from Eastern and Western Europe, North Africa, Asia and North and South America as well as native Israelis. Today, the Kfar Batya campus educates elementary through high school age students who live at home or in the Kfar Batya dormitories. The relationship between Leeuwarden and Kfar Batya can be attributed to Dr. Nathan Dasberg, a native of Leeuwarden and later principal of the Kfar Batya High School. It was his suggestion to the community of Dutch survivors and the citizens of Leeuwarden that the remnants from the synagogue find a new home in Kfar Batya. In the 1960s, members of the Dutch Genealogy organization, who were survivors of the Leeuwarden Jewish community, made an emotional visit to Kfar Batya. They knew immediately that Kfar Batya could be a home for the remnants of the synagogue that had once been the center of their Jewish life in Leeuwarden. Since the artifacts' arrival in Kfar Batya in 1965, the synagogue has been in constant use. While the 1600 students on the campus benefit from the historic synagogue, the room and ritual objects show the wear and tear of daily use. On a recent visit to Kfar Batya, the Dutch Genealogy Organization decided to undertake the responsibility for the restoration and refurbishment of the artifacts. Dr. Sander DuParc, president of the Leeuwarden Jewish Community Fund pointed out: "A synagogue on campus helps build a connection to the past. It reminds the students of their roots." DuParc is a Holocaust survivor himself. He recalls that his great grandfather was the synagogue secretary and that his relatives donated some of the silver pieces. Today the synagogue is restored and the Jews of Leeuwarden will not be forgotten. Their legacy lives on at the AMIT Kfar Batya campus in Raanana, Israel.

שער-מעטפת. עברית והולאנדית. כולל פסוקים ומזמורים מספר תהילים. הנותן תשועה. יגדל. ושיר לכבוד הכתרת הרב, הפותח: יהי שלום בואך פה. מנוקד.