Rabbi Eliezer Silver Trove Goes on Auction Block
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Image by kedem auction house
A huge collection of letters, manuscripts, religious artifacts and photographs belonging to one of the leading rabbinical authorities of 20th-century America will be put up for public sale on Wednesday in Jerusalem.
The entire archive of Rabbi Eliezer Silver (1881-1968), who served for decades as the head of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis in both the United States and Canada, is being put on the block by Kedem Auction House, which specializes in ancient Jewish books and manuscripts.
Silver also served as president of Agudat Israel of America, the umbrella organization for Haredim.
“For us, this sale is an extremely significant event,” said Avishai Galer, a partner in the auction house. All the items are from the collections of private individuals, he added.
Born in Lithuania to a rabbinic family, Silver is credited with saving thousands of Jewish Torah scholars in Europe during the Holocaust by arranging for them to leave to the United States on special student visas.
He helped organize the famous march of rabbis on Washington, D.C. in 1943, demanding U.S. intervention on behalf of European Jewry.
For more go to Haaretz
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