Torah, Torah, Torah (5.21)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the fifth season

Moderator: Styles Bitchley

How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
0
No votes
9.5 (One of the Best)
6
10%
9.0 (Excellent)
7
11%
8.5 (Very Good)
10
16%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
13
21%
7.5 (Decent)
11
18%
7.0 (Average at Best)
11
18%
6.5 (Not So Good)
1
2%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
0
No votes
5.0 (Just Awful)
3
5%
 
Total votes: 62

Message
Author
MACattack
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 553
Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2008 11:52 pm
Location: Santa Barbara, CA

#11 Post by MACattack »

Mazeltov!
I just don't give a damn!

User avatar
Styles Bitchley
Magnum Wristwatch Aficionado / Deputy SpamHammer
Posts: 2674
Joined: Tue Mar 24, 2009 12:15 pm
Location: Canada

#12 Post by Styles Bitchley »

Anybody catch this recent story? Reminded me of this episode.

5 Torah Scrolls in Brooklyn Are Returned After a Theft
NEW YORK TIMES
By TRYMAINE LEE
Published: May 2, 2010

Five Torah scrolls stolen from a Brooklyn synagogue last week were turned over to the Brooklyn district attorney’s office on Saturday night, according to the district attorney, Charles J. Hynes.

The scrolls, valued at more than $30,000 each, were turned in by a man whom the authorities did not identify and then returned to the Karlsburg Synagogue in Borough Park on Sunday afternoon.

“I am very pleased that I was able to facilitate the return of these sacred Torahs to the synagogue and the members of its congregation,” Mr. Hynes said in a statement.

According to the district attorney’s office, the man who turned in the scrolls did so because he felt that “it was the right thing to do” and the police did not suspect him of being involved in the theft, which occurred early Wednesday.

A spokesman for Mr. Hynes said that the office did not know whether any money had been paid for the return of the scrolls and the ornaments that were taken along with them. The office provided no further information about the man or how he came to have the scrolls.

A $10,000 reward for the return of the scrolls had been offered by Assemblyman Dov Hikind and City Councilman David G. Greenfield, but Mr. Hikind said on Sunday that until an arrest was made, the reward would probably go unclaimed.

The police said that the thief entered the synagogue, which is on 53rd Street between 15th and 16th Avenues, possibly through a first-floor window that was partly open or unlocked. There were no signs of forced entry.

The scrolls were in a safe with a combination lock, leaving investigators to surmise that the safe had been left open or that the thief knew the combination.

Issac Abraham, a well-known figure among Brooklyn’s Hasidim, said that much of the synagogue’s congregation, including its rabbi, was in Israel preparing for the holiday of Lag Baomer when the theft occurred.
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."

- J.Q.H.

User avatar
IKnowWhatYoureThinking
Macho Taco & Coops Connoisseur
Posts: 1885
Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:19 pm
Location: NC

#13 Post by IKnowWhatYoureThinking »

The story left out the part where TM helped track them down.

User avatar
steveadl
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 557
Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2009 11:27 am
Location: An Island

#14 Post by steveadl »

I enjoyed this episode. Particularly liked the few conversations between Rabbi Solomon, TM and others like Lt Tanaka where they're quilting him into letting them see the file.

User avatar
MaiTaiMan
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 419
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 12:43 am
Location: Mid-West

#15 Post by MaiTaiMan »

This episode was decent...good action and backstory with the Rabbi and Higgins (which we find out at the end).

The plot or storyline was somewhat odd, though. :shock: Never would've thought Magnum on the hunt for a stolen Torah. But, the action helps keep it going. Not a memorable or awesome episode...but still an entertaining one, none-the-less. :)
"It was more ironic than a Robin Masters novel--she thought he was dead, he thought she was dead...and only the chauffeur knew the truth! He should have been the butler!" "Lest We Forget"

RamblerReb
Commander
Posts: 48
Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2011 12:24 pm

#16 Post by RamblerReb »

Some notes:

The city of Shanghai, where the Torah was buried, was the only city in the world, other than Franco's Spain (whose grandmother was Jewish), unconditionally open to Jewish immigration in the years leading up to WWII. After Japanese occupation, the Nazis pressured the Japanese to exterminate the city's Jewish population, but the Japanese merely placed them in a ghetto. A delegation of Jewish community leaders was summoned by the Japanese military governor, who asked them why the Nazis hated them so much. One of the delegation replied (through a translator) "Tell him it is because we are Orientals." The governor reportedly smiled at this after having been very stern up until this point in the meeting. The meeting is historical, but the reply is probably apocryphal. However, the Jews were never killed or handed over.

Allied bombing raids by the 7th Air Force began on earnest in 1944 and continued right up until the bombing of Hiroshima. Many refugees were killed and wounded in the raids.

The stock footage at the beginning shows B-25 Mitchells bombing Shanghai. This indicates that this is a raid by the 41st Bombardment Group, one of the 7th's units which flew combat operations over China.

User avatar
miltontheripper
Vice Admiral
Posts: 108
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2011 9:48 pm
Location: Michigan

#17 Post by miltontheripper »

rubber chicken wrote:You are correct about Mr. Shelby's house Tralfaz, nice find! A few pictures:

The features of the roof can be recognized in google earth here.
Image

And Magnum walked around this area in The Sixth Position. What a place to live.
Image

Good spot on recognizing the house from the previous episode, I noticed it right away as well. And yes, what an awesome place to live!! I really like this episode. The character of the Rabbi Asher Soloman was great! And I loved the back story with him and Higgins. This one had an unusual but good plot, great action, and was very entertaining in my opinion, better than I remembered. I wonder how TC's Bayou Blaster chili turned out lol!

User avatar
Doc Fred
Admiral
Posts: 164
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 12:00 am
Location: Pinehurst, NC

#18 Post by Doc Fred »

I very much enjoyed this episode... What was a major thing to me was a further insight into Higgins and his noble character.

User avatar
J.J. Walters
Founding Father
Posts: 4196
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:54 pm
Location: Suburbia, USA
Contact:

#19 Post by J.J. Walters »

Spotted another "new" Estate painting. I don't recall seeing this one in any other episode. Anybody recognize this painting?

Image
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

User avatar
Doc Fred
Admiral
Posts: 164
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 12:00 am
Location: Pinehurst, NC

Re:

#20 Post by Doc Fred »

IslandHopper wrote:
James J. Walters wrote:"There will always be a little piece of Higgins in the Torah".
This episode has one of my favorite scenes of any episode (along with the Magnum/Butler scene in "Compulsion"). I believe it takes place just before Rabbi Solomon says the line quoted above, when the Rabbi is telling Magnum of the first time he actually met Higgins. It was in London and the Rabbi recognized Higgins as the British Sentry who abruptly turned to allow the Rabbi and his friends to escape into the night. They discussed this situation and the strict orders the British soldiers were under not to permit this type of activity. The Rabbi said something like "you disobeyed a direct order" (in allowing the Rabbi and his friends to pass). Higgins replied by saying something like "I was obeying a higher order which doesn't permit me to shoot unarmed refugees looking for a home." That scene gets me every time.
I agree with you totally about that... one of the best lines in the entire series..

We see, once again, that Higgins is most definitely a man of honor.
Woof, woof... thirty years uglier!... woof, woof...

User avatar
Doc Fred
Admiral
Posts: 164
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 12:00 am
Location: Pinehurst, NC

Re:

#21 Post by Doc Fred »

rubber chicken wrote:What a place to live.
Can you imagine how expensive those places down there by the water are!
Woof, woof... thirty years uglier!... woof, woof...

Tuan Vu
Captain
Posts: 56
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 7:06 am

Re: Torah, Torah, Torah (5.21)

#22 Post by Tuan Vu »

This was a so-so episode for me. I rated it as average (7.0).

One thing we know about the location of Robin's Nest: It must be about two miles from Diamond Head. Magnum says to the Rabbi that to walk back to the estate from where they were after driving out of Diamond Head tunnel, would be "more than two miles."

Today, the spot where they get out of the car before it explodes, has been paved over and is a popular scenic lookout: Image.

Here is the scenic lookout today looking Eastward: Image. It is the same view at 33:27 on the YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH2VxWuFvac.

As you can see, since the filming of this episode, they have built a rail for safety.

User avatar
Milton Collins
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 262
Joined: Mon May 19, 2014 8:16 pm

Re: Torah, Torah, Torah (5.21)

#23 Post by Milton Collins »

Another solid episode, 8.0 for me. Not overly memorable and certainly not one of the best but a good one for season 5 which was one of the most lackluster seasons in my opinion.

- Love the backstory of Asher Solomon and Higgins that is told while Magnum is changing the tire. As always, Higgins is as honorable as they come!

- TC's bayou blaster chili was hilarious! "It must be stirred constantly or you'll have bayou cement" ha ha, loved it! And watching TM try it and burst out
into FLAMES and needing to pound a beer to cool off made this scene even better.

- Tanaka is one of my fav of the recurring characters and loved his role and interaction with Asher.

Just a good fun episode in my book!

User avatar
KingKC
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 571
Joined: Mon Feb 29, 2016 10:16 pm
Location: Third World Country of Arkansas

Re: Torah, Torah, Torah (5.21)

#24 Post by KingKC »

This episode was mostly forgettable for me. I can only remember TM going to the airport and the Torah being stolen but cannot remember why or how they got it back. It has been some 30+ years since the original showing but other shows stick in my mind much more than this one. I do clearly remember the Rabbi as a well known character actor and that is about the most I can say. Season 5 was clearly on the downhill slide for the show.

thechickinthemiddle
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 215
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2016 3:38 am

Re: Torah, Torah, Torah (5.21)

#25 Post by thechickinthemiddle »

I love T.C.'s Island Hoppers apron too. :P Shame Universal never capitalized on that. :lol: Redbubble currently has several Island Hoppers designs but none on an apron as far as I can tell. Who wouldn't love that as a gift? :lol:

I liked Rabbi Asher Solomon a lot. It's too bad he never returned to team up with Father Paddy McGuinness! :lol:

Post Reply