Two Men Charged With Stealing Kabbalah Books
Crossposted from Haaretz
Two Jerusalem men have been charged with stealing rare, ancient Judaic books, estimated to be worth tens of thousands of dollars, from the Israel National Library. Yisrael Pinto, 26, and Yekutiel Barkman, 23, used false documents to steal 18th-century books, according to the indictment submitted to Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court about two weeks ago. The thefts took place in May 2009.
According to authorities, the pair walked into the Gershom Scholem Hall in the Jerusalem library, where the Judaism and kabbala books are kept, and asked to study a book. Due to the rarity and value of some of the books in the hall, recommendations are required to study them on the premises.
The two are charged with presenting false recommendations from Torah research institutes and false personal recommendations from senior officials in these institutes. Prosecutors say they asked to study “Meor Einayim” (“Light of the Eyes”), a book by Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl, published in 1798 and valued at tens of thousands of dollars. Some time after receiving the tome, however, the defendants allegedly returned a different book with a similar catalog number, and took “Meor Einayim” out of the library.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO