Rare and Unique Items
Apr 5, 2017 (Your local time)
Israel

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LOT 37:

The Stroi (Straw) on which the Rebbe Rabbi Aharon of Belz Stood on Yom Kippur - Segulah for Protection

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Sold for: $7,500
Start price:
$ 300
Auction house commission: 20%
VAT: On commission only
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Some of the straw on which the Rebbe Rabbi Aharon of Belz Stood on Yom Kippur, in accordance with the custom of the Belzer Rebbes on Yom Kippur.
On Yom Kippur, the Rebbe Rabbi Aharon of Belz used to stand barefoot on this straw, which is called by the Belzer Hassidim "Stroi". On the evening after Yom Kippur, the Rebbe used to take some of the straw and then the Hassidim were allowed to take some too. Since there was only little straw, each Hassid would take very little of it. The straw was considered by the Belzer Hassidim as a Segulah for protection.
In the book "Bi'Kedushato shel Aharon" (stories and customs of Rabbi Aharon of Belz), it is written: "I have heard from Rabbi Yesha'aya Schneelbalg … that Belz have a custom to lay out straw under the Rebbe's feet on Yom Kippur. And once, there was no straw and the Rebbe instructed to buy a mattress and take straw from it".
The book recalls a miraculous story about the straw: "I have heard from Rabbi Shema'aya Klein of Wein (Tamuz 2015) that when he lived in Israel he decided, in order to make a living, to emigrate and live abroad. When he made his way to Haifa and was already on board the ship, a customs inspector found that he had a large amount of foreign currency which was illegal and strictly forbidden those days. Reb Shema'aya feared that he will confiscate the money, which was all he had to start a new life abroad. Behold, in his bag, he also had some "Stroi" on which the holy Belzer Rebbe stood on Yom Kippur when he was in the Katamon neighborhood of Jerusalem. The inspector, who was non-religious and far from being an observant Jew heard from him about the straw. Immediately, he asked that Reb Shema'aya give him "one wisp" of the straw as gift. And when Reb Shema'aya gave him his request, the inspector left him alone without confiscating even a cent of his money. Wonder of wonders!
The straw before us was given to one of the most important Hassidim by the Rebbe on the evening after Yom Kippur. Attached are documents and letters by the rabbis of Badatz Ha'Edah Ha'Charedit - Rabbi Yitzchak Ya'akov Weiss Av Beit Din, Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Friend and Rabbi Yisrael Moshe Dushinsky - about the personality of the Hassid who had received the straw.
The following testimony appears on the margins of one of the above letters: "the 12th of Tevet 5777 [2017], I the undersigned hereby confirm that I have sold the straw (Stroi) on which the Rebbe Rabbi Aharon of Belz stood on Yom Kippur when he was in the Katamon neighborhood in one of the final years of his life". Signature of the receiver.

Before us are several wisps of the holy straw in a sheet protector.
Extremely rare. Has never appeared in auctions!

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