Bidspirit auction | Touching Souvenir: Fur Coat of

Touching Souvenir: Fur Coat of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hornstein - הוּא יִפְקֹד בְּרַחֲמִים הַחֲסִידִים וְהַיְשָׁרִים וְהַתְּמִימִים. קְהִלּוֹת הַקֹּדֶשׁ שֶׁמָּסְרוּ נַפְשָׁם עַל קְדֻשַּׁת הַשֵּׁם. The Rebbe the Rayatz' young son-in-law, Rabbi Menacehm Mendel Horstein, perished in Treblinka with his wife, Rebbetzin Sheina, the Rebbe the Rayatz' youngest daughter.  The Rebbe the Rayatz tried to obtain visas for them yet eventually, they perished on European soil.  To prevent his distress, the Rebbe the Rayatz was not told what had happened to them.  Thus, the Rebbe wrote in Igeret from Menachem Av 1949 (Igrot Kodesh Section III, p. 173): ”הנני ממשיך בחקו”ד ע”ד הנ”ל ולעת עתה אם לא אכתוב לו אחרת נא לסדר שינהגו כל סדרי היאר צייט בימים הנ”ל אבל מבלי לפרסם אודות זה כיון שבבית כ”ק מו”ח הרבי אינם יודעים”. [I am continuing to investigate the aforementioned matter. For the time being, unless I write to you otherwise, please arrange for all the Yahrtzeit customs to be observed on the aforementioned days, but without publicizing this, since they do not know about it in the household of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe].  The Exaltation of a Tzaddik's Possessions in Lubavitch Philosophy In his Sichot, the Rebbe frequently glorified the sanctity and spiritual significance of the possessions of a Tzaddik. The Rebbe quotes his father-in-law, the Frierdiker Rebbe: ”The place where [the Tzaddik] studied and engaged in Torah, and all the objects he used for his Avodah, [the Tzaddik's] holiness rests upon them as a result of his Beirur of the world” . The Rebbe explains: ”The life of a Tzaddik is eternal; not only in spiritual matters but also - regarding his physical location and physical possessions (his table, his chair, etc.)... for the holiness of the Tzaddik permeates all of his affairs... the sanctity of the Tzaddik's place and possessions (even after his passing) remains in the same manner as the time when the Tzaddik actually used them, like a soul within a body”. (Likutei Sichot, 32, pp. 19-27). ”Un Farnutsn Gezunterheit” - And Enjoy [Them] in Good Health In the book Bechol Beiti Ne'eman Hu (pp. 539-542), it is recounted that the Chassid Rabbi Zalman Gourarie, who was a collector of Chabad Admorim's possessions, approached the Rebbe at the height of Parashat Hasfarim (1985). When the Rebbe expressed fierce opposition to the possession of books stolen from the Library, Rabbi Zalman feared for the status of his own collection. After describing the origins of his items to the Rebbe, the Rebbe responded with a rare blessing: ”Un farnutsn gezunterheit” (And enjoy them in good health). The Rebbe’s response reflects the unique Segulah and blessing inherent in the holy possessions of the Rebbeim, and the merit of owning them. In contrast, the matter that shook the Rebbe’s soul, leading him to cry out against keeping them in one's home as a ”ticking time bomb, ” referred exclusively to the books that were stolen from the Library.