The Cat is Out of the Bag

By Yaakov Greenberg

You know the stories about the snake oil salesman who scams unknowing bystanders into shelling out their last pennies for the hopes of some special remedy?

Not me — I would never fall for it!

Or would you?

Well, somebody is.

There is a madman out there who, over the past 24 months, has sold the following tales:

-The Rebbe used the mikvah in his house on Crown Street.

-Beginning in the late 1980s, he had private learning sessions with the Rebbe every week.

-The Rebbe informed him that he was his chosen successor to lead Klal Yisroel after Gimmel Tamuz.

Based on this fellow’s claims of authenticity, he has sold well over one million dollars worth of goods which he claims to be from the Rebbeim, beginning from the Mitteler Rebbe through our Rebbe.

The sales comprised:

-Children’s items including doll carriages, teddy bears and toy fire trucks.

-Furniture including bed frames, patio chairs and rocking chairs (which, we are to believe, the Frierdiker Rebbe shlepped across Russia, Latvia, Poland and back to Riga while fleeing the Nazis during World War II — while his prized library needed to be left behind).

-Women’s clothing and accessories belonging to several of the Rebbetzins from Rebbetzin Rivkah onward (including an outfit ostensibly custom made for Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, but is embroidered with the name “Mrs Parpal”)

-Numerous hundred dollars bills which the Rebbe ostensibly gifted in exchange for his expert research services

-Miscellaneous suitcases, kitchen utensils, padlocks, photographs and other miscellany

His “letters of authenticity” have been proven to be fakes — one even bears a phone number that only came into existence many years after the date appearing on the note.

The history accompanying each item always cites individuals who have since passed away, making it impossible for them to declare his statements as falsehoods.

As previously reported by COLlive, this individual has been taken to court for swindling and defrauding others. There’s no need to rehash all that information; the articles are available for reading, and it seems that, within Lubavitch at least, the cat is out of the bag, his tales are too tall to be believed.

But our Rebbeim enjoy respect and reverence well beyond Chabad. Innocent “outsiders,” unaware that this charlatan has been exposed as a pathological liar, continue to take the bait, spending tens of thousands of dollars, while the seller sweeps his winnings off the table, like a gambler clearing his chips off a poker table.

The buyers, meanwhile, naively believe themselves to be in possession of a holy object.

This type of fraud — the person proclaiming to possess a priceless sacred object, that just “happens” to be available for the right price — has been going on for thousands of years, and it will no doubt continue.

How is it that someone is cashing in, for his own private financial gain, on the Yiras Shamayim and Emunas Tzaddikim of other Jews? Where are we, Chasidim, as the honor of the Rebbeim is being degraded so crassly by this known fraudster?

If the items were at least genuine and the seller had simply fallen on hard financial times, perhaps we could cut him some slack, but:

The items are not genuine.

The seller is doing very well financially, thank you. (Proceeds from recent public auctions alone surpass $1.8 million.)

Many years ago, before creating a new career as a seller of “sacred objects”; before launching a new Chasidic “dynasty” of which he proclaimed himself “Grand Rebbe,” this fellow dabbled in history, even writing a “biography” which attacked the Rebbe at every turn. The half-truths, non-truths and untruths (i.e. fabrications) that filled his books were picked apart by professional and amateur historians, who disproved one “discovery” after another. (See here for some of them.)
Why is this individual able to do this unchallenged? How can this high-profile practice continue, by an otherwise-reputable auction house?
Where are those to whom the honor of the Rebbeim is dear?

—

Read More:

https://collive.com/dubious-seller-floods-market-with-questionable-chabad-artifacts/
https://collive.com/auction-house-embroiled-in-defense-of-chabad-artifacts/
https://collive.com/what-collive-missed-in-the-chabad-auction-expose/
Kedem Faces Buyer’s Remorse on Auctioned Chabad Items