Three letters and documents from the Neumark family archive (a Chabad rabbi in Russia):

• Leaf handwritten by Rabbi Yisrael Yaakov Neumark, Rabbi of Novhorod-Siverskyi (elder brother of R. Chaim Meshulam Zalman Neumark, Rabbi of Starodub). [Novhorod-Siverskyi, 1864.] Letter of commitment not to drink alcohol [apparently due to R. Neumark's function as a shochet, following an ancient statute].

• Responsum (2 handwritten pages) to R. Chaim Meshulam Zalman Neumark, Rabbi of Starodub, by R. Uri Aryeh Leib Katz, posek in the bordering town of Pahar (Lubyane). [Zlynka?], first day of Rosh Chodesh Tamuz, 1892. Question as to whether the synagogue ark should be changed from the east side to the south side to face Jerusalem.

• Document of sale of chametz (2 pages), handwritten and signed by R. Avraham Yaakov Neumark, Rabbi of Prienai (grandson of R. Chaim Meshulam Zalman Neumark, Rabbi of Starodub). Prienai, 14 Nisan, 1912.

[3] leaves. Varying size and condition. Overall good to fair condition.

R. Chaim Meshulam Zalman Neumark (d. 1893), a leading Chabad rabbi, important disciple of the Tzemach Tzedek, the Rebbe Maharash and the Rebbe Rashab of Lubavitch. One of the most renowned and prominent rabbis of Chabad Chassidut in his times. He served as rabbi of the following prominent Chabad cities and towns: Horki (1857-1867), Starodub (1867-1886), Vitebsk (1886-1888) and Nevel (1888-1893). Rebbe Yehudah Leib of Kopust called him "a renowned posek, both in halachic ruling and in his Chassidic knowledge".

Four letters of pilpul and halachah sent to R. Chaim Berlin (during his tenure as Rabbi of Yelisavetgrad and during his Jerusalem period), by important Chabad rabbis in Russia during the time of the Tzemach Tzedek, the Rebbe Maharash and the Rebbe Rashab of Lubavitch. Kherson, Romanovka, Yekaterinoslav and Lubavitch, 1902-1912.

1. Letter handwritten and signed by R. Gershon Dov Ber Pinsker, Rabbi of Kherson, regarding permitting an agunah to remarry. Kherson, 18 Shevat, 1902. At the top of the letter is his stamp.

2. Letter handwritten and signed by R. Sheiman (Shlomo) Itkin, Rabbi of Romanovka. Romanovka, 1903. At the top of the leaf is his stamp: "Sheiman son of R. Itkin, posek of the Romanovka community". In the letter R. Itkin asks R. Berlin's opinion regarding a machine for drawing well water into a mikveh [in the beginning of the letter R. Itkin mentions a responsum he had received from R. Berlin a week earlier; see this responsum on mikveh matters in Nishmat Chaim – Yoreh Deah, Jerusalem 2008, section 122, pp. 219-220].

3. Letter (2 pages) handwritten and signed by R. Dov Ze'ev Kozhevnikov, posek in Yekaterinoslav (Dnipro), regarding succession to a position as community shochet. Yekaterinoslav (Dnipro), 11 Nisan, 1905. At the top of the leaf is his stamp.

4. Lengthy letter (10 pages) handwritten and signed by R. Avraham Chaim Naeh. Lubavitch, 27 Sivan, 1912. At the end of the letter are his stamps in Hebrew and Latin script: “Chaim Mendelov”, “Ch. Mendelow”. Lengthy responsum discussing various topics (Chazakah and Chezkat Mamon, Tzrorot and Koach Kocho, and more).

The letter was sent during R. Naeh's stay in Lubavitch with the Rebbe Rashab, at the end of his service as an emissary in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on the way back to Eretz Israel. During this period R. Naeh wore the characteristic clothing of Bucharan Jews and adopted the surname Mendelov. Despite his young age when sending the present letter, only 22 years old, R. Naeh was famed for his greatness in Torah and corresponded with the great rabbis of Jerusalem. At the beginning of Chanoch LaNaar, a book he had printed during that period for the residents of Samarkand, R. Berlin's letter to him is printed, where he showers him with titles of admiration and affection. [It can be deduced from the beginning of the present letter that he had sent previous responsa.]

Four letters (14 handwritten pages). Approx. 21-22 cm. Good condition. Folds. Stains, creases and light wear.

To the best of our knowledge and research, the four present letters have never before been printed.

Shofar of Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Tzemach Tzedek of Lubavitch.

Large, narrow, light-colored and curved shofar. The shofar's wide opening is carved with a wave pattern.

Enclosed is a letter of authenticity (handwritten note in English), signed in Hebrew by Rebbetzin Chana Gurary (1899-1991), eldest daughter of the Rebbe Rayatz: "I hereby gift… one of my great-great grandfather's Shofar. The Tzemach Tzedek used this Shofar. I received it as a gift from my grandmother Shterna Sarah the week of my wedding [11 Sivan 1921]". The letter is dated March 4, 1990.

The custom of Chabad rebbes was to blow the shofar themselves for the community to thereby fulfill their obligation. The Lubavitcher Rebbe owned another light-colored shofar attributed to the Tzemach Tzedek, which he used to blow for many years until it cracked, rendering it invalid for use. [Even after its invalidation, the Tzemach Tzedek's shofar remained in place on the Rebbe's table during the blowing of the shofar. Two other shofars placed on his table were a black one from his father R. Levi Yitzchak, attributed to the Rebbe Maharash, and a light one from his father-in-law the Rebbe Rayatz.]

In his old age, the son of the Alter Rebbe, R. Chaim Avraham, used to come to the shofar blowing by the Tzemach Tzedek. The Rebbe Maharash once asked him: Why do you trouble yourself to come here? Can't you arrange a minyan to blow the shofar by you? R. Chaim Avraham answered: The verse states, "Happy is the nation that knows the shofar blast" – not "that blows the shofar". In my minyan, as in all minyans, they only blow the shofar. Here, the person blowing the shofar knows the shofar blast (LeShema Ozen, p. 39; HaTamim VIII, pp. 9-10 [leaf 381]).

Length of the shofar: Approx. 27.5 cm. Good condition. Light damage.

Included is a wooden box that may have also been used by the rebbe or his family (the box was given along with the shofar, but it is not mentioned in the letter of authenticity). 

Shofar of Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, the Rebbe Rayatz of Lubavitch.

Large, narrow, dark-colored shofar. The shofar's wide opening is carved with a serrated pattern.

Enclosed is a letter of authenticity (handwritten note in English), signed in Hebrew by Rebbetzin Chana Gurary (1899-1991), eldest daughter of the Rebbe Rayatz: "I hereby gift… the black Shofar my father used while in America in 1929-1930. Rabbi Dovid Shifrin gave it to him upon his arrival to New York in Elul. He gave it to me as a gift upon his return to Europe in 1930. It arrived in one of the shipments at the end of World War II". The letter is dated March 4, 1990.

The custom of Chabad rebbes was to blow the shofar themselves for the community to thereby fulfill their obligation. The Rebbe Rayatz recounts how three different shofars were set on the table of his father, the Rebbe Rashab, before and after the blowing of the shofar. "Every Rosh Hashanah, my father the Rebbe would line up the shofars before the blowing. On the reading table were set three shofars. One was very long; this was the shofar of the Maharal of Prague…" [Sefer HaSichot, Hebrew translation, p. 14].

The Lubavitcher Rebbe was known to have possessed three different shofars: one light-colored one from his grandfather the Tzemach Tzedek, one black one from his father R. Levi Yitzchak attributed to the Rebbe Maharash, and one from his father-in-law the Rebbe Rayatz.

The visit of the Rebbe Rayatz to the United States

Some two years after his release from the Soviet prison and settling in Riga, the Rebbe Rayatz traveled to the United States. The purpose of the visit, which lasted for close to a year (Elul 1929-Tamuz 1930), was to muster public support for Russian Jews and to encourage and strengthen American Jewry. Wherever he went, the Rayatz campaigned to strengthen and fortify Torah observance, and promote Shabbat observance, laying tefillin and establishing Torah and Chassidut classes. He founded Agudas Chassidei Chabad and women's societies to promote family purity. 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, and 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, 21 Tammuz, 1930. He set sail from the port of New York on SS Bremen, and after spending several weeks in the Marienbad health spa, he returned in the middle of Elul 1930 to his home in Riga.

The Chassid R. David Shifrin (d. 1943) was one of the first Chassidim of the Rebbe in the United States, a founder of Agudas Chassidei Chabad in the United States in 1924, and secretary of the Agudah. He also kept the company of the Rebbe Maharash.

Length of shofar: 33 cm. Good condition. Cracks and damage.

Included is a wooden box that may have also been used by the rebbe or his family (the box was given along with the shofar, but it is not mentioned in the letter of authenticity).

Three small silver Kiddush cups bought by Rebbe Shalom Dov Ber Schneerson, the Rebbe Rashab of Lubavitch, as a gift for his granddaughters – the young daughters of the Rebbe Rayatz, sisters Chana, Chaya Mushka and Sheina Schneerson – for the four cups of the Pesach Seder night.

Three small Kiddush cups, decorated with illustrations and vegetal motifs. Silver (84), marked: Kiev – 1899-1904; two of them (with identical decorations) are marked with the maker's mark Г.Р [G.R], and the third is marked with the maker's mark ИЕЗ [IEZ; Israel Eseevich Zakhoder].

Enclosed is a letter of authenticity (handwritten note in English), signed in Hebrew by Rebbetzin Chana Gurary (1899-1991), the eldest sister: "I hereby gift… the three small Kiddush cups that my grandfather [the Rashab] bought me and my sisters. We drank wine by the Seder at my grandfather's as young girls". The letter is dated March 4, 1990.

Three cups. 3.5x4.5 cm. Good condition.

Included is a wooden box that may have also been used by the rebbe or his family (the box was given along with the cups, but it is not mentioned in the letter of authenticity).