Bidspirit auction | Tefillin Straps of the Holy

Tefillin Straps of the Holy Gaon Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Freund, zt”l - “…And from the Abundant Influence of the Mitzvah of Tefillin, May There Be Drawn Down Upon Me Long Life and an Abundance of Holiness” An exceptionally important sacred relic: the actual tefillin straps for the arm and head used for many years by the renowned wonder-working tzaddik, the Gaavad of the Eidah HaChareidis, the holy Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Freund. As attested in the accompanying certificate—and as is clearly evident from the extensive signs of use on the straps themselves—Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Freund used these straps for many years, binding himself to his Creator with them day after day. Despite their many years of use by Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Freund, the straps can be attached to a new pair of tefillin, thereby creating a complete pair incorporating these distinguished straps, which may be worn with a blessing lechatchilah. Before us is perhaps the most personal and significant category of tashmish kedushah belonging to a tzaddik (a Torah scroll being essentially a communal sacred object): the actual tefillin straps with which Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Freund bound himself to his Creator every day during the morning prayers. His Shacharit prayers would continue for many hours, as he poured out his heart before Hashem in his renowned prayers for the salvation of individuals and the community. He also wore these tefillin at the many circumcision ceremonies held in his beit midrash following Shacharit, at which he served as sandak. Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Freund The holy Gaon Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Freund [1904–1996], Gaavad of the Eidah HaChareidis, was born in 1904 to Rabbi Yisrael, Av Beit Din and Rosh Yeshivah of Hunyad, Hungary, son of Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua, Av Beit Din of Nasod. His father and grandfather were among the prominent followers of the Sanzer-Shinnover and Sighet Chassidic dynasties. Rabbi Moshe Aryeh was raised under the guidance of his illustrious grandfather and from childhood distinguished himself by extraordinary diligence in Torah study and fear of Heaven. At the age of thirteen he was examined by his grandfather, orally, on Shulchan Aruch Yoreh De’ah together with the Pri Megadim, and on Choshen Mishpat together with Ketzot HaChoshen. Already at the age of eight, he was tested orally on Kedushat Yom Tov of Sighet, a profound work of homiletics and Chassidic thought. In the home of his father, the rabbi of Hunyad, he acquired practical expertise in halachic ruling and dayanus, sitting alongside his father during monetary disputes. At only eighteen years of age, his grandfather already included him in rabbinical court proceedings conducted in Nasod. Alongside his extraordinary diligence, Rabbi Moshe Aryeh became renowned for his personal sanctity—minimizing food, sleep and speech and exercising exceptional care in guarding his eyes. He also secretly studied the teachings of Kabbalah, concealing his spiritual attainments from public view. Some jokingly referred to him as the “Ramai” [deceiver], because he “deceived” people by concealing his true greatness. He would rise at midnight and lock the door of his room so that no one could observe his avodah, a practice he maintained into advanced age. In 1933 he began serving as Rosh Av Beit Din of Nasod. He subsequently served as Av Beit Din and Rosh Yeshivah in Rogna, and later moved to Satmar, where he served as dayan, halachic authority and Rosh Yeshivah for younger students under the leadership of the holy Rabbi Yoel of Satmar, in whose shadow he remained for decades. As a dayan he was particularly renowned for his extraordinary command of the Rishonim and Acharonim. Following the Holocaust, he became especially celebrated for his expertise in releasing agunot from their marital bonds, and women came to him from near and far to obtain halachic permission to remarry. When the Nazis occupied Hungary, Rabbi Moshe Aryeh was deported to Auschwitz together with his wife and eight children. His wife and children were murdered al kiddush Hashem. His eldest son, already eighteen years old, was an outstanding Torah scholar of whom great things had been expected. Several years after the war Rabbi Moshe Aryeh immigrated to Eretz Israel and settled in Jerusalem. The Satmar Chassidim there gathered around him and accepted him as the leader of their community. The Satmar Rebbe appointed him Rosh Yeshivah of the Satmar Yeshivah, a position he held for approximately forty years, producing generations of students. An extraordinary bond existed between Rabbi Moshe Aryeh and his disciples, to each of whom he was like a compassionate father. With immense inner strength he carried the pain of his losses throughout his life. Although he remarried after the war, he did not merit surviving children. Nevertheless, he wholeheartedly rejoiced at the celebrations of his friends and displayed exceptional love and affection toward Jewish children.