Auction 55 Part I - Rare and Important Items
May 9, 2017 (Your local time)
Israel
 8 Ramban St, Jerusalem.
The auction has ended

LOT 39:

Ketubah De'irkasa of Rebbe Yisrael of Husiatyn

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$ 8,000
Auction house commission: 23%
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Handwritten ketubah, Ketubah De'irkasa [replacement of a lost ketubah], of R. Yisrael Friedman of Husiatyn, from the WWI period, at the time most of the Ruzhyn Rebbes fled to the Austrian capital of Vienna. Vienna, 1st of Nissan 1915.
The ketubah records the marriage of "Rebbe the Tsaddik R. Yisrael son of the holy R. Mordechai Shraga", and "Rebbetzin Sarah daughter of the Tsaddik R. Chaim". Further in the ketubah is a testimony of their marriage which took place in the city of Husiatyn and the reason for writing this replacement - since a Jewish man is prohibited to live with his wife without a ketubah. In the ketubah, the name of the husband is mentioned several times as "The holy Rabbi Yisrael", and the wife is called "The pious Rebbetzin Ms. Sarah". At the bottom of the document are the signatures of the witnesses: R. "Dove Berish son of Yosef" and R. "Yosef [Shvolb?]".
R. Yisrael Friedman of Husiatyn (1857-1948, Encyclopedia L'Chassidut, Vol. 2, pp. 561-562), eldest of the Ruzhyn Rebbes, was the last grandson of R. Yisrael of Ruzhyn. Born in 1857 to R. Mordechai Feivish of Husiatyn, he succeeded him as Rebbe of Husiatyn in 1894 and his father's thousands of Chassidim accepted his authority. He was known for his adherence to the Ruzhyn tradition with his aristocratic manner and royal demeanor. He was also celebrated for his trait of truth. His uncle R. David Moshe of Chortkov said about him: "He is the truth". During WWI, he moved to Vienna and established his court together with the rest of the Ruzhyn rebbes.
He was very active on behalf of the settlements in Eretz Israel and in 1937 he made aliya and resided in Tel Aviv. With the rise of the Nazi party, he often urged his Chassidim to escape Europe and would say: "Anyone with sense, should flee now even in slippers". He told the Chassidim who came to part from him at the train station: "Whoever can sell should sell, and whoever cannot, should leave everything and flee from here with only his sack on his shoulder". The story of his prayers at the grave of the Or HaChaim in the presence of leading kabbalists is famous [this took place during the Holocaust, at the time the Nazi army commanded by Rommel was nearing Egypt and the lives of the Jews living in Eretz Israel were in great danger]. On that occasion, he announced that the enemy would not occupy Eretz Israel. He died at the age of 92 on Chanuka of 1948. Amazingly, in his testament written in 1939, he requested to be buried in Jerusalem, however, "if this is not possible in Jerusalem" he requested to be buried in Safed or Tiberias. Since at the time of his death, the way to the Mount of Olives was blocked, he was buried in Tiberias.
Leaf, 34 cm. Good condition. Folding creases and a few stains.

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