By COLlive reporter
A historic Torah scroll that was presented to Czar Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia by the Jewish Community of Penza on June 28th, 1904, is up for auction this week.
It was presented to the Czar upon his visit to Penza, a Russian frontier fortress-city located 390 miles southeast of Moscow, to inaugurate a new railway line, said Kestenbaum & Company.
Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, this Sefer Torah was subsequently purchased from the Communist authorities by a London-based family in the 1920’s and now for the first time has been brought to public light, the auction house said.
It was customary in Russia that when the Czar visited a Jewish community, a Torah Scroll would be commissioned in his honor and subsequently presented to him.
Of course, the relationship that Nicholas II maintained with the Jews of his realm was far from healthy. Nicholas II’s reign (1894-1917) was marked in particular by a violent struggle against revolutionary movements, which culminated in the Bolshevik Revolution and the Czar’s removal from the throne and ultimate execution.
Jackie Insel, Operations Manager at Kestenbaum, said it presents “an amazing opportunity to return a kosher certified Sefer Torah that was once housed in the Czar’s Palace and now use it again for the benefit of a Jewish community.”
Ahead of the upcoming Auction of Fine Judaica on Thursday, November 13 in Manhattan, Insel said “it would be extraordinary if this Czar Nikolai Sefer Torah indeed found a home back in Russia.”
The scroll, 12.5 inches in height is entirely complete. It is placed on two wooden rollers and housed in a silk pillowed leather box. It is written in traditional Ashkenazi calligraphic hand on vellum. Price range is $30,000 – $40,000.
Kestenbaum’s Fall auction of Fine Judaica will take place on Thursday, November 13 at 3:00 pm at 242 West 30th Street in New York City. The extensive sale consists of 429 lots of Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, Ceremonial Objects and Graphic Art.
For more info and the full catalog of the auction, visit kestenbaum.net.
To #8: I dont think 12 1/2 inches is “really small”… nor does the size of the scroll affect its historical value …
To close the circle -and make local shliah and his community happy ….
Ps.the Torah is kosher and with a good kavonos , because all Jew were more strict than today and they presented it to the King ….
It’s 12 1/2 inches, really small. I assume if it was full size it would be much more because of historical value.
it would be so wonderful if it was purchased and offered to the Rebbes library as a sort of “circle closing” for all the bad the Russians have done to Chabad….
MBA
This torah was written at a time of pogroms. It was likely written by extremely concerned and scared yidden, can a sefer torah be kosher with those kavanas? Please respond sofers
This torah was checked and is 100% kosher
it would be so wonderful for it to go back to Russia and be used again!!!!
A used torah 100 years old in good condition should be about $10, 000. A new torah is $25, 000 and up.
it was not writen for him
it was given to him , that maybe he would spare that city from pogroms yemac shmoi veh’zecroi
What is the average price to write a new Sefer Torah today?
If it was written for a goy, its possible not all the halachos were kept i.e. were they makdish the shaimos, were all aspects of halacha met as though one wrote for Jewish use?