Page 59 - HANUKIYA

and decided to fight. He again checked
the details of the only scribe that anyone
thought could do it. He was introduced to
a craftsman named Rabbi Yaakov Shmuel
Spitzer. He went to his home carrying the
scroll and asked, “Why do you refuse?
Rabbi Spitzer gave a depressing reply, ‘It’s and pages with very short lines. In some
very simple. The letters are so small that I lines, the letters are stretched out and
cannot see them, let alone the notes.’”
Here, Hoffman introduced me to
restoration work. There are experts all
over the world who know how to restore
damaged paintings and other antiquities.
It’s extraordinary art that is learned
over years. He now sat with the scribe,
Rabbi Spitzer and had a breakthrough
with an idea from the diamond industry.
“I told him about loupe glasses, special
magnifying glasses, which are used to
check diamonds.”
The scribe called a few days later.
He used loupe glasses to fix half a page,
but was still pessimistic. They could not
help with all the letters. Hoffman did not
panic. First, he sent his son, Rabbi Yitzhak the result would not have been more
Issachar Dov, to buy the most professional
loupe glasses on the market. This was
the start of a five-month restoration
campaign.
Then a wave of pilgrims began, or aliya
to the Torah. Admors and Hassidim who
asked for the right to read the Torah
scroll made their way to the governor’s
house. But most interesting thing was the
scholars who asked to learn Halakha. The
most fascinating thing was the writing
method. Because the pages are normally
almost always start with the letter “vav”
(‘the pages vav’) and the sequence of the
pages was unusual, it became necessary
to create a new sequence so that the
pages would actually start with the letter
“vav”. There are pages with very long lines
they are shortened in others. The words
in some rows are stretched in a different
sequence – everything according to the
Kabala.
That was not all. “The Torah scroll was
so decorated,” explains Rabbi Yaakov,
“that a proper cover was also necessary.
That is my rule with all the mitzvas, ‘‫זה‬
‫לי ואנווהו‬-‫‘ ק‬. Afterwards, I attended an
auction. I was offered a pure gold Torah
crown inlaid with special precious stones.
I saw the size and it suited me. Of course I
bought it. And yet, it was not enough. I did
further restoration, this time to the crown.
I added more special stones. What can I
say, the result surprised even me. I think
that even if had ordered a new crown,
beautiful and magnificent. In the world
of collections, it is classified as one of the by a Hassidic preacher, the holy Maggid
three most beautiful crowns in the world.”
For Rabbi Yaakov, a elegant mitzva
leads to another elegant mitzva. After
the Torah crown, he purchased a special
miniature Torah Ark, which was also made
by careful craftsmanship and decorated in
honor of the Torah. He is now distributing
around the world a book of photographs
for use by researchers and rabbis to study
how Baal Shem Tov’s students wrote the Small painting of the Western
Torah scrolls. “Everything according to Wall, 1873, by Charles
the kabala.” Robinson. Extraordinarily
beautiful
Promise of sanctity
provenance. “My scroll,” says Rabbi
Rabbi Yaakov has infrequently unveiled
his treasures. “It’s my personal hobby. Yaakov, “was kept in a museum. Originally,
It’s not something that I do for glory,” he
tries to explain. But now, in honor of the the scroll was confiscated from the
Festival of the Giving the Torah, he has
agreed. Another Torah scroll is placed on Hassidim by the communist regime, which
the table along with a machzor of prayers
that is considered to be the oldest in the even left an official’s signature on the
world; a machzor written on parchment
sometime more than 700 years ago. back of the scroll. A Russian Jew, who had
Here too magnificent restoration work heard about it, was able to smuggle the
was needed. “Several pages were missing
at the beginning and more later.” In order scroll out of the country. He has able to
to complete it, it was necessary to do
something that would be very similar to
the original. Here too, he harnessed the
top experts in the field to write, create,
and do the best possible.
The thing he likes the most is a
distinguished Torah scroll that was owned
of Międzyrzecz, may his virtue protect us.
The text is miniscule (the page is 3.5 inches
high). The parchment is also exceptional,
made of the skin of an unborn animal. The
script is in the style of the Ha’ari, the holy
Ashkenazi Rabbi Isaac Luria.
“When I showed the scroll to the holy
Admor Munkacs Rebbe, may he live long
amen, examined it carefully, looked at
the script and confirmed it. The Munkacs
Rebbe can be trusted, because he
possesses a Torah scroll by founder of get his hands on it and smuggle it to the
Hassidism, the holy Baal Shem Tov (and
for a yeshiva student like yourself, Rabbi United States. There, it was purchased by
Yaakov adds, I do not have to remember
his jahrzeit on Shavu’ot…) a famous Judaica collector, Daniel Kaniel
“The rabbi quickly compared my scroll of Florida, who has authored a number
with his and argued that they are written
in very similar scripts, which means that, of research books on the topic. That is
with a high degree of probability, they
are both scrolls of the rabbi and student. why the scroll was kept in such good
Nonetheless, the rabbi asked me what had
changed. How is it possible that my scroll condition.”
was in such good condition while his was
in worse shape? (I heard, Rabbi Yaakov Here too, to complete the work, Rabbi
adds, that, each year, before he reads it on
Yom Kippur, the Munkacs Rebbe reexams Yaakov purchased a pure gold pointer
the scroll’s kashrut for fear it will fail).:
inlaid with diamonds and an ivory palm.
The answer, as always, is in the
“Some say that it belonged to the holy
Ruzhiner Rebbe.” He is not prepared to
commit to that, even though he has other
objects that can be definitively attributed
to that tzaddik.
In addition to the financial costs, the
treasures are protected by exceptional
security measures, but Rabbi Yaakov is
not worried. “These objects are sacred.
They actually protect us all.” 59