A Jewish congregation in South Woodford welcomed the arrival of a Torah scroll which originated in a small Czech town to celebrate Erev Rosh Hashanah.

The historic artefact was brought to the East London and Essex Liberal Synagogue in Marlborough Road to ring in the year 5779 on the evening of Sunday, September 9.

Rabbi David Hulbert said: “The scroll originated in the tiny Jewish community of Blatne, a Moravian village 50 miles south of Prague.

“The 28 gold and silver stars on the new mantle represent 28 Jews from Blatne who were deported to Theresienstadt in 1942.

“Three of these people perished in the Theresienstadt ghetto. The remaining 25 were all murdered in Auschwitz.”

One of the rituals involved in the two-day New Year festival is the blowing of a shofar, a ram’s horn trumpet.

This begins a 10 day period known as ‘Days of Awe’ which ends with the festival of Yom Kippur.