Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts, Graphic & Ceremonial Arts Featuring an Extensive Collection of Rabbinic Autograph Letters.

After Kestenbaum & Company’s successful July 2020 auction, we are proud to present our Fall auction that contains a broad range of fields of interest. 

The sale begins with Manuscripts (Lots 1-17) and features a number of unique texts from various Burial Societies, such as those of Kapesz, Hungary (Lot 7, $1,500-2,500) Bamberg, Germany (Lot 4, $7,000-10,000) and an unknown Polish community (Lot 8, $1,500-2,500). Of note is the Furth Memorbuch (Lot 5, $30,000-50,000), used from 1650-1828 for Yizkor services. With the names and deeds of hundreds of leaders, scholars and philanthropists over the course of centuries, it is a veritable treasure trove of information concerning the Jewish community of this city. Another significant manuscript from Central Europe is a charming handwritten Book of Psalms (Lot 15, $15,000-25,000), whose worn façade serves as a testament to its owners’ piety. 

The most striking element of the sale is an extensive collection of Rabbinic Autograph Letters and Manuscripts (Lots 18-112). Crossing boundaries between Sephardic and Ashkenazic, Chassidic and Mithnagdic, these 94 documents have been written by some of Judaism’s most premier rabbinic leaders over the past 250 years. They range from communications of historic significance, such as R. Chaim Soloveitchik’s detailed explanation of his opposition to the creation of Agudas Yisroel (Lot 92, $12,000-18,000) to those of everyday activities; R. Elchanan Wasserman’s expression of appreciation upon receipt of a donation to the Baranovich Yeshiva (Lot 107, $400-600).  

Some of these writings and letters are intensely scholarly; R. Yeshaya Pick’s heavily annotated copy of Choshen Mishpat (Lot 76, $12,000-18,000) and R. Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin’s response to a Halachic query (Lot 27, $2,000-3,000). Others are charmingly personal, such as the New Year’s greetings of R. Mordechai Shraga Feivush, the Rebbe of Husiatyn, to his son-in-law, the young R. Menachem Nochum Friedman, the future Boyaner Rebbe (Lot 36, $12,000-18,000). A number of items included in this category contain elements that combine the personal with the intellectual, like R. Samson Raphael Hirsch’s emotional record of family births, illnesses and deaths, inscribed in his own antique Chumash, offered together with pages of his manuscript novellae on the Talmud (Lot 60, $12,000-18,000). 

It should be noted that among the numerous communications penned by Chassidic leaders, members of the storied Alter (Lots 20-1), Friedman (Lots 35-9), Hager (Lots 46-8), Halberstam (Lots 50-5), Schneersohn (Lots 86-7), Teitelbaum (Lots 97-101) and Twersky (102-105) families are all represented in the sale. Autographed letters from both R. Ya’akov Abuhatzeira (Lot 18, $6,000-9,000) and his grandson R. Yisrael Abuhatzeira, known as the Baba Sali (Lot 19, $3,000-5,000) are included in the sale. Of particular significance is a letter from R. Ben-Zion Halberstam, the second Rebbe of Bobov (Lot 53, $10,000-15,000); letters from this distinguished Rebbe are exceedingly rare. The curious reader is highly encouraged to access our online catalogue to view up close these significant vestiges of some of Jewry’s greatest leaders. 

This auction features a strong showing of Americana (Lots 113-141), recording climactic moments in American Jewry’s early years. A manuscript record of the dedication ceremony of Philadelphia synagogue Mikveh Israel in 1782 is included (Lot 113, $5,000-7,000) as is a handwritten record of the 13 toasts offered at the constitutional adoption of Virginia’s Beth Shalom synagogue in 1789 (Lot 115, $6,000-9,000). Over 120 autograph pages by the American-Jewish writer Jacob Mordechai’s papers are offered (Lot 117, $15,000-20,000) as is the first edition of the Harper’s New Monthly Magazine in which Mark Twain’s famous essay, ‘Concerning the Jews’ appeared for the first time (Lot 138, $800-1,200). The first Jewish cookbook published in America, in 1871 (Lot 155, $5,000-7,000), serves as another impressive entry in this category, although the first Kosher cookbook ever printed in the English language, by Lady Judith Montefiore in 1846 (Lot 154, $5,000-7,000), was printed across the pond in England. Rounding out this section, two reactions to General Ulysses Grant’s controversial wartime Order No. 11, expelling Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky are included in this sale (Lot 129, $5,000-7,000).  

Noteworthy offerings from the Western Sephardic world include Isaac (Fernando) Cardozo’s Jewish apologetic work, ‘Las Excelencias de los Hebreos’ Amsterdam, 1679, (Lot 149, $4,000-6,000) and a fascinating 1768 prayerbook containing the rites of circumcision for slaves, Marranos and converts, as well as a list of all Mohels throughout the Sephardic Diaspora, from Amsterdam to Suriname (Lot 190, $3,000-5,000). Also offered is the highly rare 1652 second edition of Menashe ben Israel’s ‘The Hope of Israel’, which was instrumental in the decision to readmit Jews into England (Lot 185, $15,000-20,000). One of the fruits enabled by this readmission is Arthur Szyk’s masterpiece Passover Haggadah (Lot 159, $15,000-20,000), dedicated to King George VI himself.  

As for Chassidic material, a transcript of the full 1985-86 court proceedings pertaining to the ownership of Chabad’s library is featured (Lot 150, $5,000-7,000), as are the second and fourth editions of the Alter Rebbe’s Tanya, from 1799 and 1805 (Lot 151, $5,000-7,000 and Lot 152, $6,000-9,000). Among the lots related to the Holocaust (Lots 161-175), a bronze sculpture of gloves (Lot 175, $20,000-30,000) stands out. Created by the Mossad agent who captured Adolf Eichmann, Zvi Peter Malkin, the sculpture reflects the fact that Malkin wore gloves when seizing Eichmann so as to avoid touching him with his bare hands. 

In the Fine Art section (Lots 195-209), 14 avant-garde photographs of pre-war Vilna, by Moshe Raviv-Vorobeichic (Lot 195, $6,000-9,000) are significant images of the ghetto’s streets. Two striking oil portraits by Alois Heinrich Priechenfried (Lots 198-9, both $4,000-5,000) and eight more by Hermann Struck (Lots 202-8) provide a fitting close to this category. In the Judaica section (Lots 210-236), a silver, Italian-styled Torah crown (Lot 211 $5,000-7,000) and a pair of Yemenite silver Torah finials (Lot 212 $6,000-9,000) make strong impressions, while a Ludwig Wolpert-designed Torah shield (Lot 214, $3,000-4,000) and crown (Lot 215, $4,000-6,000) complete the picture. Also of note is a Yaacov Agam revolving Sabbath goblet (Lot 219, $800-1,200), and three Carmel Shabi-designed spice containers (Lot 222, $2,000-3,000).  

Further details about any item in this sale including images, or information in regard to bidding at the auction itself can be obtained by contacting Zushye Kestenbaum at (212) 366-1197 or [email protected]