Online Auction 38 - Chabad
Special Chabad Auction in Honor of 11th Nisan - 120 Years from the Birth of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
Silver bowl used by Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the Rayatz of Lubavitch, for Shehecheyanu fruit on Shavuot, Rosh Hashana and Tu BiShvat. The bowl was bought during the visit of the Rayatz to the United States in 1930, by the Chassid R. David Shiffrin.
Sterling silver (marked on underside) – United States, ca. 1920s.
Letter of authenticity enclosed (handwritten note, in English), signed in Hebrew by Rebbetzin Chanah Gurary (1899-1991), eldest daughter of Rebbe Rayatz: "I hereby gift… the fruit bowl that rabbi Dovid Shiffrin gave to my father [the Rayatz] during his trip in 1929-30 to the United States. My father told me he used it for schechiyanu fruit, Rosh Hashana Tu Bishevat and Shevous". Dated – 3rd December 1989.
The visit of Rebbe Rayatz to the United States
Some two years after his release from the Soviet prison and settling in Riga, Rebbe Rayatz made a trip to the United States. The purpose of the visit, which lasted for close to a year (Elul 1929-Tammuz 1930), was to raise awareness of the plight of Soviet Jews and to encourage and strengthen American Jewry.
Wherever he went, the Rayatz campaigned to strengthen and fortify Torah observance, and propagandized for Shabbat observance, laying tefillin and establishing Torah classes. He founded Agudas Chassidei Chabad and women's societies to promote Taharat HaMishpacha. On Shabbat, he would hold gatherings and deliver Chassidic teachings, and on weekdays, he would convene various meetings and receive people in private audiences. Towards the end of the trip, the Rayatz met with Herbert Hoover, president of the United States, in the White House (on 14th Tammuz). During their meeting, the Rayatz thanked the president for the freedom of religion given to American Jewry and for the help his government provides to Jews throughout the world.
The Rayatz ended his visit on Thursday, 21st Tammuz 1930. He set sail from the port of New York on SS Bremen and reached Berlin on 27th Tammuz. After spending several weeks in the Marienbad health spa, the Rayatz returned in the middle of Elul 1930 to his home in Riga. According to the enclosed letter, during the course of his visit to the United States in 1930, R. David Shiffrin gave the present bowl as a gift to Rebbe Rayatz, who used it for Shehecheyanu fruit on Shavuot, Rosh Hashana and Tu BiShvat.
The Chassid R. David Shiffrin (d. 1943) was one of the first Chassidim of the Rebbe in the United States. One of the founders of Agudas Chassidei Chabad in the United States in 1924, and secretary of the Agudah. He also had the merit of meeting Rebbe Maharash.
Approx. 11.5X23X9.5 cm. Good condition.
Silver ashtray of Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the Rayatz of Lubavitch.
Sterling silver, marked on underside: S. Kirk & Son, Sterling. United States, ca. late 1920s (originally made to be used as a compote bowl).
Letter of authenticity enclosed (handwritten note, in English), signed in Hebrew by Rebbetzin Chanah Gurary (1899-1991), eldest daughter of Rebbe Rayatz: "I hereby gift ... the S. Kirk and Son ashtray from my father. I believe there is a photo of my father with this ashtray near him". Dated – 5th November 1989.
Rebbe Rayatz presumably bought the present ashtray during his visit to the United States in 1929-1930, and used it after his return to Europe, in Riga, Latvia, in Warsaw and Otwosk in Poland, during the 1930s. In one of the pictures portraying the Rayatz in Otwosk in 1936, the Rayatz is seen sitting in his room (the yechidot room), deep in thought in front of an open book, holding a cigarette in one hand, with the present ashtray near him on the table (see enclosed picture).
Rebbe Rayatz would smoke extensively, already in his youth and in the lifetime of his father Rebbe Rashab. The Rayatz was known to "smoke without matches" – he would light the first cigarette of a new packet with the last cigarette of the previous packet – without using a new match. During the Rayatz's imprisonment in the Soviet prison in 1927, for lack of paper, he would write Torah novellae on his cigarette stubs.
In the final decade of his life, the Rayatz stopped smoking entirely, due to his ill health, and he also strictly forbade smoking amongst the students of the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva.
Maximal diameter: 16 cm; height: 8.5 cm. Good condition.
Silver cigarette case of Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the Rayatz of Lubavitch.
Silver; marked: Birmingham 1919, maker's mark: F.D. Long. Vermeil interior (with three straps for holding the cigarettes).
Letter of authenticity enclosed (handwritten note, in English), signed in Hebrew by Rebbetzin Chanah Gurary (1899-1991), eldest daughter of Rebbe Rayatz: "I hereby gift ... the large cigerette case that my father bought in Riga. It was made in England". Dated – 3rd September 1989.
Rebbe Rayatz would smoke extensively, already in his youth and in the lifetime of his father Rebbe Rashab. The Rayatz was known to "smoke without matches" – he would light the first cigarette of a new packet with the last cigarette of the previous packet – without using a new match. During the Rayatz's imprisonment in the Soviet prison in 1927, for lack of paper, he would write Torah novellae on his cigarette stubs. According to the enclosed letter, Rebbe Rayatz purchased the present cigarette case in Riga, after he left Russia in 1927.
In the final decade of his life, the Rayatz stopped smoking entirely, due to his ill health, and he also strictly forbade smoking amongst the students of the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva.
Approx. 14.5X9 cm. Good-fair condition. Minor bends and defects.
Two cigarette holders of Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the Rayatz of Lubavitch.
Letter of authenticity enclosed (handwritten note, in English), signed in Hebrew by Rebbetzin Chanah Gurary (1899-1991), eldest daughter of Rebbe Rayatz: "I hereby gift... the two cigarette holders used by my father in the 1930's". Dated – 3rd September 1989.
Rebbe Rayatz would smoke extensively, already in his youth and in the lifetime of his father Rebbe Rashab. The Rayatz was known to "smoke without matches" – he would light the first cigarette of a new packet with the last cigarette of the previous packet – without using a new match. During the Rayatz's imprisonment in the Soviet prison in 1927, for lack of paper, he would write Torah novellae on his cigarette stubs. According to the enclosed letter, the Rayatz used the present cigarette holders in the 1930s. In several photographs portraying the rebbe during his years in Latvia and Poland in the 1930s, the rebbe is seen smoking with a cigarette holder (see enclosed pictures).
In the final decade of his life, the Rayatz stopped smoking entirely, due to his ill health, and he also strictly forbade smoking amongst the students of the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva.
Two holders: 8 cm and 8.5 cm. Good condition.
Rectangular box, made of brass and reddish-brown aventurine (presumably France, late 19th or early 20th century).
Letter of authenticity enclosed (handwritten note, in English), signed in Hebrew by Rebbetzin Chanah Gurary (1899-1991), eldest daughter of Rebbe Rayatz: "I hereby gift… the snuff box of my father [the Rayatz] that he used prior to assuming the position as rebbe. It is made of brass and aventurine. The snuff box sparkles because it is made of a type of quartz. My father gave it to me shortly after my wedding". Dated – 3rd December 1989.
Approx. 4X6X2.5 cm. Good condition. Minor defects.
Fountain pen (and nib) of Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the Rayatz of Lubavitch, used by the rebbe in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Bakelite. Engraved on the nib: "Spencerian Velvet point no. 46. England". Birmingham, England, before 1914.
Letter of authenticity enclosed (handwritten note, in English), signed in Hebrew by Rebbetzin Chanah Gurary (1899-1991), eldest daughter of Rebbe Rayatz: "I hereby gift the Bakelite dip pen that my father used in the late 1920's and early 30's. Bakelite was an early type of plastic. He [the Rayatz] liked the feel of this dip pen and used it often". Dated – 3rd December 1989.
Letters of the Rayatz
It is difficult to find in Jewish history a Torah leader who wrote as many letters as the Rayatz. During the course of his life, the Rayatz wrote over a hundred thousand letters (an average of three thousand letters a year for the thirty years he served as rebbe – 1920-1950, and thousands of other letters in the twenty-two years prior to his appointment, during the period he ran the various branches of the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva, serving as right hand of his father the Rashab), most of which were never published. Some were printed in the series Igrot Kodesh of the Rayatz. Many of the letters deal in communal matters, the establishment and management of various Chabad institutions, while many others are private, and contain guidance, blessings and advice. The present pen was used by Rebbe Rayatz for writing his many letters.
For 102 years (1813-1915), Chabad Chassidut was centered in the town of Lubavitch, Belarus. In 1915, with the outbreak of WWI, Rebbe Rashab left Lubavitch and settled in Rostov, south-western Russia. Following the passing of the Rashab on 2nd Nissan 1920, his son Rebbe Rayatz succeeded him. In 1924, the Rayatz left Rostov for Leningrad, and after his release from prison on 12th-13th Tammuz 1927, he left Soviet Russia with several family members and settled in Riga, Latvia, where he remained for six years, until he moved to Warsaw in 1933. Two years later, he relocated to Otwosk (Otwock), a nearby town. Wherever he went, the Rayatz devoted himself to communal work, and to spreading and upholding Torah observance. According to the enclosed letter, the present pen was used by Rebbe Rayatz in the late 1920s and early 1930s, while he was living in Latvia and Poland.
Body of pen (Bakelite): 14.5 cm; nib (removable): 4 cm. Minor defects.
Pencil of Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the Rayatz of Lubavitch.
Mechanical pen, gold-filled (engraved: Carter's 1/20 Gold filled pat), presumably United States, late 1920s.
Letter of authenticity enclosed (handwritten note, in English), signed in Hebrew by Rebbetzin Chanah Gurary (1899-1991), eldest daughter of Rebbe Rayatz: "I hereby gift… a gold pencil used by my father". Dated – 12th September 1989.
Letters of the Rayatz
It is difficult to find in Jewish history a Torah leader who wrote as many letters as the Rayatz. During the course of his life, the Rayatz wrote over a hundred thousand letters (an average of three thousand letters a year for the thirty years he served as rebbe – 1920-1950, and thousands of other letters in the twenty-two years prior to his appointment, during the period he ran the various branches of the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva, serving as right hand of his father the Rashab), most of which were never published. Some were printed in the series Igrot Kodesh of the Rayatz. Many of the letters deal in communal matters, the establishment and management of various Chabad institutions, while many others are private, and contain guidance, blessings and advice. The present pencil was used by Rebbe Rayatz for writing his many letters.
]The pencil was presumably purchased during the visit of Rebbe Rayatz to the United States in 1929-1930, and the Rayatz used it during the 1930s – while in Latvia and Poland (for a similar pencil used by the Rayatz in the 1930s, see Kedem Online Auction 32, item 6; and see picture of the Rebbe during his stay in Boston, Sivan 1930, where the Rayatz is seen writing with a pencil very similar in shape and style to the present pencil – enclosed picture)].
Approx. 10 cm. Good condition. Minor defects.
Teddy bear purchased by Rebbe Shalom Dov Ber Schneersohn, the Rashab of Lubavitch, as a gift for his granddaughters – the young daughters of Rebbe Rayatz, the sisters Chanah, Chaya Mushka and Sheina Schneersohn.
Fabric and wool, straw stuffing, with movable limbs, made by the stuffed toys manufacturing company of Margarete Steiff in Germany (Missing label), ca. 1900s.
Letter of authenticity enclosed (handwritten note, in English), signed in Hebrew by the eldest sister Rebbetzin Chanah Gurary (1899-1991): "I hereby gift… the German Steif bear that my grandfather the Rashab bought for my sisters and I while he visited Germany. My father [the Rayatz] cut a small hole in the bear's foot it should not have a question of avodah zara". Dated – 12th December 1989.
The Visits of the Rashab to Germany
Rebbe Rashab (1860-1920), fifth rebbe of the Chabad dynasty and prominent leader of Russian Jewry, was a sickly person who would often travel to various spa towns in Russia and abroad, in order to consult with professors. The Rashab also devoted these trips to improving the physical and spiritual state of Jews in general, and Russian Jewry in particular. He travelled to Moscow and St. Petersburg to lobby for the annulment of various decrees against the Jews, participated in rabbinical conferences, sent emissaries to far-flung Jewish communities and ensured the establishment of mikvaot and printing of books. Wherever he went, he toiled to strengthen Torah observance. Some of the places the Rashab visited include France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Crimea.
The Rashab's various visits to Germany are extensively documented in his many letters. His first visit was in 1885, and many more visits followed. The Rashab spent most of the year 5667 (1906-1907) in Würzburg, Germany, officially for medical treatment, though the Rashab used this time to strengthen German Jewry, meeting with various rabbis and public figures. In Kislev that year, he was joined by his son the Rayatz, his daughter-in-law Rebbetzin Nechama Dina, and their three young daughters – Chanah, Chaya Mushka and Sheina. The family remained in Würzburg until Elul 1907, when they returned together to Lubavitch. According to the enclosed letter, the Rashab purchased the present teddy bear for his young granddaughters Chanah, Chaya Mushka and Sheina during one of his visits to Germany (this may have been during his stay in Würzburg, Germany, together with his granddaughters in 1907. For another gift the Rashab bought for his granddaughters in those years, see Kedem Online Auction 34, item 11).
Approx. 30 cm. Fair-good condition. Tears to fabric. Defects to wool (patches missing). Stains and defects.
Brief video (1:58 minutes; in color) from the wedding day of R. Shalom Dov Ber (Barry) Gurary, with Mrs. Sara Mina Haskind – Sunday 10th Sivan 1953 (The bride and groom are not seen in the video).
The video shows the guests, men and women in festive attire, gathering at the entrance of the hotel in Manhattan where the wedding took place. Seen on the video are the fathers of the groom and bride – R. Shemaryahu Gurary (the Rashag) and R. Alter Dov Ber (Berel) Haskind; and several prominent Chabad Chassidim in the United States – R. Yisrael Jacobson (president of Agudas Chassidei Chabad in the U.S.), R. Shlomo Aharon Kazarnovsky (president of the executive committee of Agudas Chassidei Chabad in the U.S.), Sam Kramer (member of Agudas Chassidei Chabad and Chabad activist in the U.S.), Mr. Philip M. Kleinfeld (Justice in the New York Supreme Court and New York State Senator. Member of the executive committee of Agudas Chassidei Chabad in the U.S., he assisted the Rayatz in attaining American citizenship), and other public figures (many of the guests seen in the video have not been identified).
Original film reel (CD and memory card with digital file of the video enclosed). Good condition.
Photograph of Rebbetzin Shaina Bracha Dulitzka (Schneersohn) – sister of Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah Schneersohn, wife of Rebbe Rashab of Lubavitch; great-aunt of the sisters Rebbetzin Chanah Gurary, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneersohn (wife of the Lubavitcher Rebbe) and Sheina Horenstein.
Large print on thick paper (with wooden frame).
Letter of authenticity enclosed (handwritten note, in English), signed in Hebrew by her great-niece Rebbetzin Chanah Gurary (1899-1991), eldest daughter of Rebbe Rayatz: "I hereby gift… the photo and frame of my great aunt Shaina Bracha Dulitzka (Schneersohn). She was my grandmother Shterna Sarah's sister. She was very nice to me as a child. She was always sending us presents". Dated 26th November 1989.
Rebbetzin Shaina Bracha was born in ca. 1859 to Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn of Ovruch, son of the Tzemach Tzedek. Her mother, Rebbetzin Chanah, was the daughter of R. Yaakov Yisrael of Cherkasy (son-in-law of the Mitteler Rebbe). She was the sister-in-law of Rebbe Shalom Dov Ber Schneersohn, the Rashab of Lubavitch, whom her younger sister Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah married in 1875. Rebbetzin Shaina Bracha married R. Naftali Hertz Dulitzka of Kaminka. After the passing of her husband in 1912, she remarried R. Moshe Nachum Yerushalmsky. There are many similarities between the portrait of Rebbetzin Shaina Bracha in the present photograph and known portraits of Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah, wife of the Rashab, in her youth (see enclosed pictures).
Approx. 20X25 cm. Wooden frame: approx. 32X30 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains and defects. Print and frame detached.
Unknown photo of Rebbetzin Tzila Schneerson taken in her youth. Rebbetzin Tzila, wife of R. Ben Zion Schneerson – brother of Rebbetzin Nechama Dinah Schneerson, wife of Rebbe Rayatz, was the aunt of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka and of her husband Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitch Rebbe.
Oval photograph, mounted on card.
Letter of authenticity enclosed (handwritten note, in English), signed in Hebrew by Rebbetzin Chana Gurary (1899-1991), eldest daughter of Rebbe Rayatz: "I hereby gift... a photo of my aunt Tzila Schneerson. She was the wife of my mother's brother Benzion. Me and my sisters were very fond of her". The letter is dated November 12, 1989.
Rebbetzin Tzila Schneerson (ca. 1904-2005), daughter of R. Moshe Horowitz (descendent of the Shla), married Ben Zion Schneerson (1897-1977), great-grandson of the Tzemach Tzedek (son of R. Avraham Schneerson of Kishinev) in 1933. Her sister-in-law (her husband's sister) Rebbetzin Nechama Dinah Schneerson married Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, the Rebbe Rayatz of Lubavitch.
After WWII, R. Ben Zion and his wife Tzila lived in Romania. In 1956, they immigrated to Israel and settled in Tel Aviv. Towards Tishrei 1956, R. Ben Zion travelled to New York to visit his sister Rebbetzin Nechama Dinah, his nieces - the sisters Rebbetzin Chana and Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, and his nephews - the Rashag and the Lubavitcher Rebbe (the Rebbe and Rebbetzins Chana and Chaya Mushka greeted him at the airport and the Rebbe even carried his baggage). Throughout the years, R. Ben Zion and Rebbetzin Tzila kept close contact with Rebbetzin Nechama Dinah and with their nieces and nephews. After the passing of R. Ben Zion, on 16th Tevet 1976, the Lubavitcher Rebbe and his wife took care of Rebbetzin Tzila, speaking to her periodically by phone.
Rebbetzin Tzila passed away on 29th Kislev 2005, at the ripe age of close to 102 years. She was buried in the Chabad cemetery plot on the Mount of Olives (Har HaZeitim) in Jerusalem, next to her husband R. Ben Zion. The couple was childless. In honor of Rebbezin Tzila's first yahrzeit, the Lubavitch Women's Organization dedicated a Torah scroll in their memory.
Photograph: approx. 7 cm. Mounted on card (edges of card cut on border of photo). Good condition. Minor damage (primarily to the verso of cardboard).
Photograph of Dr. Landau, personal physician of Rebbe Shalom Dov Ber Schneersohn, the Rashab of Lubavitch, and of his family.
Small photograph, mounted on card.
Letter of authenticity enclosed (handwritten note, in English), signed in Hebrew by Rebbetzin Chanah Gurary (1899-1991), eldest daughter of Rebbe Rayatz and granddaughter of Rebbe Rashab: "I hereby gift… the photo of my grandfather's doctor – Dr. Landau. He was very loyal to my grandfather". Dated – 26th November 1989.
The book Ashkavta DeRebbi by R. Moshe Dov Ber Rivkin, who stood beside the Rashab in his final moments, describes the devoted care of Dr. Landau in the final days and moments prior to the passing of the Rashab on Motza'ei Shabbat, 2nd Nissan 1920.
Dr. Landau continued serving as physician of the rebbe's family even after the passing of the Rashab (he was presumably Dr. Nachum Landau, director of the Jewish hospital in Rostov-on-Don in those times).
4.5X3 cm. Mounted on card (edges of card torn; lower edge trimmed close to photograph). Good condition. Minor defects.