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Historic Pashkvil Against Chasidim for Sale

Judaica collectors are abuzz about an item that was recently put up for sale: the oldest known copy of the infamous ‘Cherem HaGra.’ It was issued against the Chasidim of the Alter Rebbe around the year 1800 by the leaders of the Jewish community in Lithuania, and was signed by the revered Vilna Gaon.

From The Yeshiva World News:

This copy of the pashkavil is dated to the end of the 19th century by an expert who verified its authenticity.

Maron Eren, who manages the Kedem Auction House, explains there are Litvish and Chasidish collectors interested in acquiring the pashkavil.

In the 1750s there was a new movement in the air of the Jewish community as chassidus was introduced. The new movement was not accepted by the Eastern European rabbinical leadership leading to a Cherem by the Vilna Gaon. His following included both batei din of Vilna, so the Cherem was a powerful one, known as “Cherem HaGra.”

It is believed that the pashkavil that is being sold is the only copy from that period, dated about 70-100 years after the first Cherem HaGra.

gra

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30 Comments

  • declasse' intelectual

    wonder what the going rate might be for such an rare historical item???

    • YES agree!

      Just imagine that some collectors are stock pilling Rabbi B’s psak, for eventual profit….

      too many similarities!!

  • ibnzahav

    cant figure this out. 1. who would want to own such a document? 2. how did the gaon sign it if he was not living then? (it says on top Zatz”l.
    still wondering… Btw it does say in small letters on the right top corner (copy)

  • Binyamin Yehuda

    Y should Lubavitch care abt this, this is somethin that was against the Alter Rebbe, so y should we put it on our website ? I mean this is somethin that stands against everythin all the Admorim of Lubavitch stood 4, plz explain y this would & should b news in Lubavitch ? Who cares ?

    • Belvedere

      Agree. Looking at this is Probably worse than other shmutz.
      But oh sooo irresistible !!

      BTW. Can anyone identify any of the shmendriks that signed this garbage??
      They and there descendants surely commited shmadd. Or became part of the yevsektzia

  • Chossid

    Hopefully a chassidishe yid can own this and really appreciate its value. From what I see it is valued at over $4,000 and in this economy that is high for a shtar but ….

    Im thinking of doing a bid myself.

  • Why ????

    Don’t see the purpose of posting this article the Rebbe says that time showed all that chasidus is not against torah and there worries were in vain why promote literature that can be misunderstood these are doc. that make mesnagdim still think that there is reasons to hate ….

  • The rebbes library

    The rebbe library has many items that are controversial or are Divrie Kefirah. If I was a collector I would certainly want to own this kind of document even as a Lubavitcher.

  • to # 2

    There were two main excommunications against chassidim one of them took place during the lifetime of the vilna gaon and one right after he passed away so this must be the second one.

  • moishe

    the misnagdim released more than one this one is in addition and after the passing of the gra and they are just riding on him.

  • a chosid

    maybe a lubavitcher should buy it and TEAR it up!!!! It does belong in the garbage….

  • awacs

    A nice story I heard from Zalman Labkowski:

    Supposedly, a talmid of the Brisker Rav (the old Rav) was engaged to a daughter of a chassid. But, he was worried: what about the cherems outstanding?

    The Rav replied with a smile, “don’t worry – the only real chassidim left are in Lubavitch …”

  • letter from the Rebbe

    Rabbi B.H. 17 Adar Rishon 5744

    Greeting: Brooklyn, N.Y.

    After reading your letter, my first reaction was to instruct my secretary not to answer it. But then I remembered the exhortation of our Sages of the Mishnah to judge everyone “in the scale of merit”; though, frankly, I have difficulty in finding this in your letter- perhaps because I am not accustomed to read letters of this kind of (pardon the vulgar expression) “name – calling.”

    What would you think of a person (even not a Rabbi Emeritus) who had “just read a report” of something happening thousands of miles away, in a place and country equally far away in terms of the socio-spiritual climate and mores prevailing there, accepts the report on its face value, without appropriately taking the trouble to verify whether it is perhaps biased, or a “slight” distortion of the actual facts, and immediately comes to the conclusion to condemn the alleged “culprits” and, by association, a host of other people, in a vehement and unrestrained manner, using expressions and epithets such as in the above mentioned letter.

    What actually took place and the circumstances surrounding it, made me wonder how many apologetic letters you would have to write to those whom you’ve “misjudged”, etc. in your “outburst.”

    In light of the above I trust you will understand my not signing this letter. Though I dictated and read it.
    With due respect,
    For the Lubavitcher Rebbe Shlita
    Urgent By the secretary

  • m b

    1) a letter of the Rebbe was just published on one of the Chabad Hebrew sites stating: it was not (just?) against the Alter Rebbe… and as u can see here it never mentions the AR…
    2) true what was said above by #@: its just a copy… = who knows when it was made… therefore even from a collectors point of view; it has zero value!!!!!

    MB

  • OY VAY

    This is a FAKE made up recently
    the value of this is 0
    Lately was discover in Israel the big industry of fake antics

  • Ezra

    One wonders who were the reprinters of this, more than 100 years after it was issued (it’s dated 5532/1772, but this copy is from the late 1800s), and what was their motivation, considering that by that time it was quite clear that the cherem was based on mistaken premises. It would have been one thing if it was just for a collection of documents from that period (a la Wilansky’s Chassidim u-Misnagdim), another altogether if indeed it was to be put up as a pashkvil.

  • hashgacha pratis

    its nice that this is posted now. maybe those who rely on hearsay will rethink it now…

  • Reprint from 5532 (1772)

    The date of the original cherem is printed on the bottom: Iyar 5532 (1772), before the histalkus of the Mezritcher Magid.
    Someone reprinted it at a later date ( after the Gra’s passing in 5558 /1797).
    It is not clear when this paper was printed.

  • Lubavitcher

    @27 , I heard from a “meiven” that it was the start of 1820’s but not exactly sure when.

  • I held it in my hand

    As a mavin:

    1- this item was several times at Judaica auctions & did not sell.

    2- I was meeting a Judaica dealer & one of the items he offering fir sake was this document, I thought maybe its of great value I considered it, i took a few days to do research then Saw it in several auction catalogues & checking the data that it did not sell, more one of the facts I discovered: was that there very little proof that this document is authentic original from that time period,

    1- it’s only printed no signatures etc,,
    2- other than a book or manuscript are easyier to determine the authenticity, based on the paper binding, ink(printed or manuscript), a one page item is easy to make a fake.
    3- that’s why longtime collectors won’t pay more than a hundred dollars for an item like this, so this what they do put it away a few years then make a big deal out of it hoping some beginner with not too much experience will buy it.
    4- the idea that an professional auction house won’t sell it if it wasn’t authentic is not correct, it happens all the time they say they didn’t know it was a fake, if the buyer is lucky sometimes he will get a refund & too many times not, especially that most times it takes the buyer a while to discover it fake, by that time it too late to return, usually 30 days.
    5- so the auction house make a news item on news sites where they’ll get potential buyers.

  • I held it in my hand

    The article mentions it from late 1800s, it was probably printed in yerushalayim.