3 Kopeks Gifted by the Tzemach Tzedek Up for Auction

By COLlive reporter

Three 5-kopek coins gifted by the Tzemach Tzedek, the third Chabad Rebbe to his grandson the Rebbe Rashab in his early childhood were revealed recently in Jerusalem and are currently being exhibited in the Kedem Auction House in advance of the upcoming live auction which will be taking place in a week-and-a-half.

The gift of these coins is well documented and well-known based on many stories recounted by the Rebbe Rayatz who was told of them by his father. The Rebbe Rashab received these three coins before he was five, at which point his grandfather, the Tzemach Tzedek, passed away.

The Tzemach Tzedek was known to often bequeath silver coins to his grandchildren, the Rashab and Rabbi Shneur Zalman Aharon, the sons of the Rebbe Maharash.

“Every Thursday, my father [the Rashab] would go to the Tzemach Tzedek and receive a pyetok (5 kopek coin),” the Rebbe Rayatz wrote in Sefer HaSichos 5681 (1921). In Sefer HaSichos 5691 (1931), the Rebbe Rayatz relates similarly: “Every day, they would go to the Tzemach Tzedek, recite Shema Yisrael and Baruch Shem, and he would give them a zweyer (half a kopek).”

In another instance, he describes that the Tzemach Tzedek once sat his grandson the Rebbe Rashab down on his lap and gave him coins to distribute among his chassidim. Another source, Toras Menachem – Reshimas HaYoman 5693 (1933) records: “The Rashab, Rabbi Shneur Zalman Aharon and their sister Devorah Leah would visit the Tzemach Tzedek every day as young children, and he would give them money” (ibid p. 69, 276).

The chossid R’ Refael Nachman (Folle) Kahn repeated a story shared by his father Rabbi Baruch Shalom, who heard it directly from Rabbi Monia Moneszon: The Maharash’s sons, the Rashab and his brother Rabbi Shneur Zalman Aharon, visited their grandfather the Tzemach Tzedek daily, and he would always gift them a 5-kopek coin. On the final day before the tzaddik’s passing, he gave only a half-ruble, explaining that it was a machatzis hashekel. “The word machatzis is comprised of the letter ‘tzaddik’ in the middle; the first and last letters which form the word mes, dead; and the second and fourth letters, which surround the tzaddik, that spell chai, living.” With this explanation, he alluded to his imminent passing.

Meron Eren, owner of Kedem Auction House in Jerusalem, shares the excitement he felt upon fingering these sacred coins and their spiritual and historic significance.

“Holding these coins in my hand, I genuinely felt the marvelous stories of the Lubavitcher Rebbes come to life right before my eyes. These coins are saturated with holiness, emotion, prayer and beauty, and at Kedem, we’re honored to be entrusted with their care and to include them in our upcoming auction items.”