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U.S. Judge Helps Prevent Auction of Stolen Sefer

A federal judge in D.C. agreed on Tuesday to officially ask Israeli authorities to prevent the auction of an old volume of Talmud that was part of the Rebbe Maharash’s library, and later seized from the Previous Rebbe by the Soviets.

From the National Law Journal by Cogan Schneier:

The Chabad-Lubavitch movement, a Hasidic movement within Judaism, has been fighting for years to secure the return of historical religious texts seized by the Russians in the early 20th century. In 2013, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth of the District of Columbia imposed sanctions of $50,000 per day on Russia for refusing to hand over the books, known as the Schneerson Collection.

Lawyers representing Russia abandoned the litigation years ago, and the country shows no interest in paying or returning the collection, though the sanctions have accumulated to $83.5 million.

Attorneys for Chabad told Lamberth in a conference Tuesday that an auction house in Israel obtained one of the books and intends to sell it. Chabad asked Lamberth to issue a formal request, known as a “letter rogatory,” to the appropriate court in Israel to compel the auction house to produce documents and provide testimony on how it acquired the book. Lamberth agreed.

The lawyers suspect Russian officials or agents aided a third party in obtaining the book, or purposely failed to secure it.

Nathan Lewin, a lawyer for Chabad, also indicated Tuesday that the group will file a motion this week for a temporary restraining order to block Kedem Auction House from selling the book. Lewin phoned into Tuesday’s conference from Jerusalem. He said he inspected the book and could certify it is from the collection, but that Kedem was uncooperative and planned to sell it unless a court order stopped it from doing so. Lamberth said he would consider the motion once it was filed.

Click here to continue reading at the National Law Journal.

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6 Comments

  • Cholentmitkugel

    So it can sit in a basement on Kingston Avenue. 1 percent of shluchim learn…my biggest criticism. Big tumult over this.

    • Who you?

      Mr. cholentmitkugel,
      You should call yourself “clueless”. You obviously don’t know how important it was to The Rebbe that the belongings of The Rebbeim be in the property of the Library.
      You also obviously don’t know many Shluchim

  • Cholentmitkugel

    ….and on hey teves He urged men to study. That ain’t happening. Shluchim are marketing their Chabad houses. Study time is nil. And I have lived with many, and in my family as well.

  • Anonymous

    to #1 and #5

    It’s a real shame that you have to ruin an opportunity for people to unite together. When Jewish people hear this type of a story, it’s uplifting to know that little and big miracles happen every day even in golus. Your family or shluchim that you know, is no proof to what others do. You have no idea their meseras nefesh and heartache each moment of each day to be in their position . Trust me they learn and focus on learning much more than you can possibly know. perhaps, the criticism that you receive, can make you at least think of the world outside your circle.