By Yehudis Litvak – JewishhomeLA
A unique Judaica collection was exhibited last week in Los Angeles, at Congregation Levi Yitzchok and at Cheder Menachem.
The owner and curator of the collection, Rabbi Reuven Goldstein, is a Chabad shaliach in Cupertino, California. He has been collecting antique Jewish manuscripts, books, maps, and coins for the past five years for the purpose of showcasing them in a museum-style exhibit.
Rabbi Goldstein has always been fascinated by Jewish history. On a visit to the Morgan Museum in New York City, he saw a complete perek of the Rambam’s Mishneh Torah in the Rambam’s original handwriting. “I felt connected to history,” says Rabbi Goldstein. “A thousand years of history melted away right there.”
This experience inspired Rabbi Goldstein to begin his own collection, which eventually turned into a non-profit organization Witness to History. Its mission is, “Preserve, connect, and inspire.” Rabbi Goldstein explains that the exhibitions connect Jewish visitors to their history in a unique fashion. “The collection talks to every type of Jew, no matter what age or level of observance,” says Rabbi Goldstein.
The Witness to History collection consists of five parts. The Dawn of Jewish Printing collection includes rare 15th century printed books, such as the initial print of Josephus Flavius from 1470 and The Book of Prophets from 1494, printed by Don Samuel De Ortas, printer of Christopher Columbus’s astronomical tables.
The Jewish Life Through the Ages collection includes antique tefillin and tzitzis, illustrated haggados, and the influential Book of Customs from 18th Century Amsterdam. The Talmud Takes Shape Collection demonstrates the five-hundred-year evolution of the Talmud from Soncino and Bomberg to the famed Vilna Shas of modern day. The Triumph of Survival collection contains censored books and ghetto documents of the Middle Ages and surviving remnants of the Holocaust. The Charting the Holy Land collection contains maps of Eretz Yisrael from the Renaissance era.
Each item in the collections has its own story. Rabbi Goldstein acquired most of the items from antique book dealers throughout the world, often through the internet. Sometimes the sellers are not aware of the Jewish significance of their merchandise. For example, an item was advertised as a picture of Constantinople, Turkey, but Rabbi Goldstein noticed a picture of a Jewish family being burned at the stake on the flip side of the page. It turned out that this was a page from the Nuremberg Chronicle, one of the earliest illustrated history books printed in Germany.
Like audiences elsewhere, the Los Angeles Jewish community was very receptive to the exhibition. “Every class in Cheder Menachem attended, and the kids were fascinated,” says Rabbi Goldstein. The adults who attended the exhibition at Congregation Levi Yitzchok found it powerful as well.
Rabbi Goldstein has certainly done a magnificent job in reaching the Young and Old with his poignant collection of Judaic manuscripts. We were taken back in a time and actually touched what great Torah Scholars touched themselves.
Rabbi Goldstein is a visionary..
https://jewishhomela.com/2017/01/12/7197/
What an amazing collection
can you share us what each page is?