ORLANDO, Fla. — The state fire marshal is investigating the cause of a large fire that erupted at the Chabad of Greater Orlando on Sunday.

What You Need To Know

  • No one was injured in a blaze that destroyed parts of the Chabad of Greater Orlando on Sunday 

  • A Torah that was recovered after the Holocaust was saved by firefighters 

  • The cause of the fire is under investigation by the state fire marshal 

No one was injured in the blaze, which Rabbis there say is the most important thing.

“The fact no one was in the building at the time is incredible,” said Rabbi Salom Dubov. “We thank God for it and we don’t take these events that seem to be coincidental and natural for granted.”

Not only was nobody harmed, but neither was a sacred Torah inside. The Torah not only survived Sunday’s fire, but the Holocaust as well.

“I saw the fire in the sanctuary area and knew it was unlikely to save the other Torahs until the fire subsided,” said Rabbi Dovid Dubov. “I knew we had the Holocaust Torah in the other room in the back of the building. So I asked one of the firemen to run in and get it and he did so.”

Dubov says about half of the building is ruined, but the sacred Torah is intact.

“We kept bringing these items out and handing them over to the bystanders,” said Lieutenant Jack Young with the Seminole County Fire Department. “You could see the relief on their faces. They were very surprised that they were still undamaged.”

According to Dubov, the Holocaust Torah was buried underneath a Jewish orphanage in the town of Fuerth, Germany, before the Nazis invaded. 

The Rabbi of the orphanage told a non-Jewish member of the community he buried 19 Torahs under the orphanage and when the war ended, some of the Torahs were able to be recovered.

The Chabad of Greater Orlando obtained the Torah about two months ago, and were in the works of building an area for it, which is why it was not in the sanctuary during the fire.