Hefty Bid for Rebbe’s Specs
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Among eBay’s unique postings are a human kidney and a jar that supposedly captured a breath from Pope John Paul II. Now, add a late rebbe’s eyeglasses. The starting price? A cool $350,000.
The specs are said to have belonged to Grand Rabbi Solomon Halberstam, who purportedly wore the glasses for two decades. They are now owned by the wife of the rabbi’s optometrist. She approached Daniel Givotovsky, a businessman who deals on eBay, to sell the glasses, and he placed the item on the Web site.
“She’s not crazy,” Givotovsky told JTA. “She’s perfectly normal. I know it’s a pretty high price, but who knows?”
Halberstam reignited the Bobov Hasidic dynasty in America after much of his family perished in the Holocaust. He amassed tens of thousands of followers before his death in 2000.
At press time, no one had placed a bid, but Givotovsky seemed unconcerned. If no one takes the bait before the November 15 deadline, “we will put [the glasses] up again,” he told The Shmooze.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
