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.