Page 57 - HANUKIYA

next to me, ordered me to deny it. Only in that
way would the rabbi assume the honor.”
The Ribnitz Hassidim relate that Hoffman
had already been privileged to give the rebbe
a magnificent artwork: a silver perfume tower
inscribed in the name of the Ribnitzer Rebbe.
This tower, like several of his other sacred
objects, is now kept in Hoffman’s collection.
[photo caption: Unexpected similarity. The
Admor Sanz Rebbe Yakov Yosef]
It is less known is that Rabbi Yaakov
Hoffman financed the construction of the
Ribnitzer Rebbe’s grave. To date, he has been
one of those who has preserved his heritage
in full might. In a corner of the room, I saw a
model of a typical American building. The
Ribnitz Talmud Torah building, which was, of
course, built through the generosity of Rabbi
Yaakov.
How did you begin collecting art?
“As a man who believes in private
supervision, it is difficult for me to use the
word ‘coincidence’, but that is what happened.
In principle, as far as I can remember, I liked
esthetics, but it was not so developed.
“What was clear is that when I bought the
first painting in my life I wasn’t considering the researchers asked. Until Hoffman told them,
painting, but the frame. I thought to throw the
painting out, but then, just before I left, the
seller told me, “If you leave me the painting,
I’ll pay you 5,000$ for it. At that moment, I
looked at the painting again and realized
what a treasure I had in my hand. That was
the moment when I also began collecting
paintings.”
In order to analyze his paintings, Hoffman
used quite a few skills. He fluently speaks
seven languages, which establishes relations
with a wide range of experts and dealers, and is
especially helped by his extensive knowledge
of the Torah, history, and geography.
I learn about the price of the painting
during the conversation, depending to a great
extent on its hidden backstory. For example,
he showed me an old ornamented hannukiah,
which he liked very much. “It’s made of pure
gold,” he says, “but that’s not its attribution.
It’s the person who lit it. ‘King of Israel’, the ago. “The Erlau Rebbe was still alive,” says
holy Ruzhiner Rebbe Israel, may his virtue
protect us.
The engravings on it combine exclamations
of wonder. “It’s not for nothing,” he explains.
“The engravings made in the style of the
hannukiah of the holy Baal Shem Tov.”
There is an engraving cherubs and a table
with the showbread in the Temple. “What
are cherubs doing on a hannukiah?” all the
‘This is Hannukah’ they read about in the act
of the cherubim. And what is the relationship
of the showbread to the Festival of Light? My teacher and
Here, he cites an of Midrash, which compares rabbi blessed and
the miracle of the showbread, which was righteous memory
remained fresh for eight days – from Shabbat bringing in a Torah
to Shabbat – with the miracle of the vial of oil scroll that I wrote
that stayed it for eight days. for [unclear].
.5769
Restoration of diamonds
We now move onto the main topic for
which we came: two exceptional Torah scrolls
of two of Hassidic founders, which have
never been unveiled to the public. Here too,
as throughout his life, there is a collection
of fascinating stories, which told like an
adventure story. “I went all the chances and
all the experts. Thank God, I succeeded.”
Everything began more than twelve years
Rabbi Yaakov Hoffman in his private tale. “At
the time, I met a famous antiquities dealer,
Rabbi Aharon Berger. It was not the first
meeting, but then he offered me something
special: an especially small Torah scroll with
special writing, which he said was attributed
to the holy Apter Rebbe.”
There is a known rule in the art world:
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