CALAIS — A Torah that had remained in a Canadian bank vault since the closing of a Calais synagogue in 1964, is home in Israel — the topic of celebration here and in the Beit Shean Valley of Israel, where it has been dedicated in memory of two Israeli soldiers.

The Chaim Josef Synagogue had three Torahs when it became inactive. One was sent to a synagogue in Montreal, another to a nursing home in Boston, Mass., and the third was stored in a St. Stephen bank.

Unlike Bibles that are published on printing presses the Torah is handwritten by scribes with goose quill on parchment — a labor that takes from two to five years for each copy and makes each Torah unique and treasured.

The Royal Canadian Bank in St. Stephen told the Jewish community it would store the Torah free of charge. It was hoped that someday, the religious community could be revived and the Torah stayed in the bank vault more than 30 years.

The bank moved more than a year ago, and former Maine Sen. Harold Silverman said he was asked to find a new home for the Torah. He and his family attended a dedication of the Torah in September in Israel, held at a house of study in a regional kibbutz religious school.

Since tracing his religious roots in the mid-1960s, Silverman has been associated with the Kibbutz Sed Eliyahu in the Beit Shean Valley, close to the Jordan River, about 90 minutes from Jerusalem. In 1998 Silverman met with representatives of the Menora, the Authority for the Repatriation of Diaspora Synagogues to Israel, to discuss the future of the Calais Torah.

A plaque located in the Ark, where the Calais Torah is kept, explains its origin. Written in English and Hebrew, the plaque reads, “This Torah is a gift from the Calais, Maine U.S.A. Jewish Community to the Land of Israel from the following families: Harold and Rachel Silverman, Burton and Jessie Baig, Howard and Janet Urdang and Nathan and Miriam Cohen.”

The four families are the remaining members of the Chaim Josef Synagogue, where the Torah had been for years. Since the synagogue closed, the Jewish community has held worship in members’ homes.

After the Society decided where the Torah would be housed, Silverman learned that an Israeli family wanted a Torah that could be dedicated to their son. More than a year ago, 25-year-old Maj. Nadav Milo died defending Israel. The Torah also was dedicated to his cousin, Amit Alexander, who was killed in Israel’s defense. Both young men had been at the school where the Calais Torah is kept.

The two men’s names are etched on the “Meel,” the Torah’s velvet cover. Silverman told the slain soldiers’ grandfather, Nigel Alexander, that the Torah would present him with “… an everlasting memory of his two grandsons.”

Two days after Rosh Hashanah, the Calais Torah was dedicated, and Silverman, his wife Rachel, and their three daughters, Reemon, 10, Keseah, 12 and Anav, 14, were there with the family members of the two slain soldiers and kibbutz members, Israeli officials said.

After some prayers, Silverman said, everyone went outside where there were speeches and a dance of celebration.

When Silverman took the podium, he told the more than 1,200 people at the dedication ceremony that it was not easy to pass on to other hands something that had been so much a part of the Jewish community life in Calais. But he said the remaining members of the former synagogue in Calais were pleased that they could provide this everlasting gift to the kibbutz regional school.

“This is an example of how Judaism continues in civilization. As the Jewish religion passes away in one land, it arises in another land. And for this event, just before the 21st century, it arises in the Jewish homeland of Israel after the 2,000-year exile,” he said.

Silverman noted that the Calais Torah could have been lost. Instead, the Torah found its way to the land of Israel to continue a tradition of respect and honor.