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Megillat Esther Kotler Scroll History

Temple Aliyah's Kotler Scroll of Esther was donated in honor of Samuel Shatinsky by his granddaughter Carol Kotler, a long-time member of Temple Aliyah, Needham, MA.

In 1905 Samuel Shatinsky arrived in the United States from Stolin, Russia, a town in the Brest region of Belarus near the Belarus / Ukraine border. He had no money and didn’t speak English, but was determined to make a life for himself and his family, and still be faithful to his Jewish religion.

The most important thing to Carol’s grandfather Sam was his family, his faith, and and his friends. The men of Stolin who came to this country immediately started the Brotherly Love Assocation of Stolin, which organized a place to worship, a free loan society to help others come to America, and a burial society. The Association lasted for more than 60 years.

Eventually, they had enough money to buy a separate building for a shul, to which Grandpa Sam donated this Megillat Esther scroll.

When the men aged, the neighborhood changed, and the shul was sold to a church. Grandpa Sam gave his son, Carol’s father, the scroll to donate to another shul. Carol’s father died shortly after that, and the scroll, along with her father’s and grandfather’s bibles and religious books, stayed in a box for almost 40 years until her mother died. This is when Carol found the scroll as she cleaned out her mother’s apartment.

Carol donated the scroll to Temple Aliyah and, with David Lintz’s help, sent it out to be repaired and ordered a suitable holder for it.

Carol is glad that this scroll has found a home at Temple Aliyah and is being used each year. This scroll symbolizes the faith, love of tradition, and dedication to charity that her grandfather and so many others maintained through all the hard times they endured. Grandpa Sam would be glad that it is being used again in our vibrant synagogue that is passing these values on to our children.



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