Microphone of Rebbe Rayatz – Used at a Fundraising Banquet of the United Lubavitcher Yeshivoth in America – ...

Microphone of Rebbe Rayatz – Used at a Fundraising Banquet of the United Lubavitcher Yeshivoth in America – Purchased by Attorney Yekutiel (Sam) Kramer – With Certificate of Authenticity Signed by Rebbetzin Chana Gurary

Microphone used by Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson – Rebbe Rayatz of Lubavitch, at a fundraising banquet of the United Lubavitcher Yeshivoth in the United States and Canada. Purchased by the well-known public figure Attorney Yekutiel (Sam) Kramer.
The microphone was made by the Amperite Co. (model BAH) – NY, late 1930s. The leg of the microphone is not original (the microphone itself was professionally cleaned and repaired).
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… one of my father's microphones that Sam Kramer bought for him. He used it at one of the Yeshiva Dinners. My father gave it to me and my husband [R. Shemaryahu Gurary – the Rashag] after the dinner". The letter is dated 5th November, 1989. Enclosed: an elegant wooden box which was possibly used by the Rebbe Rayatz or his family (the box was given together with the microphone, but is not mentioned in the letter of authenticity).

United Lubavitcher Yeshivoth in the United States and Canada
The United Lubavitcher Yeshivoth in United States and Canada was established on 9th Adar II 1940 in a meeting summoned by Rebbe Rayatz on the first day of his arrival in the US. Six days later, on 15th Adar 1940, the first Tomchei Temimim Yeshiva in the US opened its gates. Initially, the students studied in the Oneg Shabbat Chabad synagogue in Brooklyn, NY and several months after the Rayatz moved into 770, at the end of Kislev, 1941, the yeshiva relocated there. At first, the yeshiva numbered 20-25 students, however it rapidly grew and new branches opened throughout the US for young and adult students. R. Shemaryahu Gurary served as the executive director of the United Lubavitcher Yeshivoth, which also included the chain of Achei Temimim Yeshivoth and the Chadrei Torah Temima Schools. The Rayatz remained involved in all details regarding the management of the yeshiva, spiritually and materially, and he took personal interest both in the management and maintenance of the yeshiva and the welfare of each student.
Periodically, festive banquets took place with the participation of the Rayatz and both his sons-in-law - R. Shemaryahu Gurary and Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Chairman of the Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch (Central Organization for Education). The banquets, held to raise funds for the United Lubavitcher Yeshivoth, were attended by leading rabbis, wealthy dignitaries and Chassidim.
Attorney R. Yekutiel (Sam) Kramer, son of R. Moshe Eliezer Kramer who was the first chairman of the Agudas Chassidei Chabad in the US, was very active in establishing Chabad institutions in the US. He and his three brothers – R. Chaim Shneur Zalman, R. Avraham Duber and R. Yitzchak Aryeh, all took part in the rescue and release of the Rayatz from his imprisonment in Russia in 1927 and in arranging his visit to the US in 1929-1930, in his rescue and immigration to the US in 1940 and in arranging his American citizenship in Adar 1949.
Based on the enclosed letter of authenticity, R. Yekutiel (Sam) Kramer purchased this microphone for the Rayatz, who used it at a banquet of the United Lubavitcher Tomchei Temimim Yeshivoth in America in the 1940s.
In a photograph taken at a banquet of the United Lubavitcher Tomchei Temimim Yeshivoth in America on Erev Rosh Chodesh Tamuz 1942, Attorney Yekutiel Kramer can be seen speaking into a similar microphone (the present microphone is lacking the long leg seen in the photo), with Rebbe Rayatz, R. Shemaryahu Gurary and Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson sitting at the head table beside him.

Approx. 20 cm. Good condition. Lacking original leg (replaced with a matching leg: 18 cm.) The microphone was professionally cleaned and repaired (the mechanism was not inspected).