Trousers Worn by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, OBM,  Pulled from Lakewood, NJ Auction Block as Controversy Mounts

Edited by: TJVNews.com

As oddities go, this one definitely ranks on the top of the list. The New York Post recently reported that an auction house in Lakewood, New Jersey known as Prime Judaica had planned to auction off a pair of trousers worn by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, of blessed memory.

The Torah sage passed away last year at the age of 94 and the Post reported that half a million people attended his funeral in Israel where he lived.

The black pants were set to be auctioned off on March 1^st with an opening bid of $3,200, the Post reported but after the paper made an inquiry about it, the trousers were pulled from the auction block.

“Pants that belonged to…[Rabbi] Chaim Kaniesvky…and worn by him for a long time,” the auction listing read before the Post made their inquiry, the paper reported.

The Post also reported that some experts have said that under some interpretations of Jewish law, the clothes that Kanievsky wore while studying Torah are considered holy.

The web site of the Lakewood, NJ auction house posted a letter written and signed in Hebrew by the rabbi’s grandson Gedaliah Honigsberg confirming the authenticity of the garment, the Post reported.

The pair of Shay Shaul-brand black pants were worn by his grandfather “for a very long time,” Honigsberg wrote, the Post reported.  A pair of the trousers cost roughly $21 at one retailer.

Before the trousers were pulled from the auction, Israel Clapman, a Jewish art dealer and owner of Fine Art by Israel Clapman told the Post that, “There’s definitely money to be made.” He added that paying as much as $10,000 for the trousers worn by this holy sage was considered to be a real bargain.

The Post also reported that the trousers were taken down from the auction house web site only 10 minutes after the paper made the inquiry about them. The paper also reported that some prospective buyers said it was a shame that the pants were no longer available to be purchased. Prime Judaica did not respond to questions about its decision to take the trousers off their auction list. This apparently created an immediate stir, the Post reported.

For his part, Clapman opined to the Post that, “it’s definitely going to go to auction.” He told the paper that he hoped he would place the winning bid on them so that he could resell them for a bigger profit. He also said that he’d consider renting them to observant Jewish men who would want to wear these trousers at their respective weddings.

Clapman told the Post,  “We demand they put pants back on.”

There is a long-established collectors market for items owned by revered rabbis, typically those with holy significance, like Kiddush cups used for saying blessings and prayer shawl accessories, the Post reported.  Religious texts owned and annotated by Kanievsky sold in 2019 for thousands of dollars while he was still alive, the paper added.

Rabbi Yisroel Wudowsky, whose collects Jewish antiques including Kiddush cup dating back 200 years told the Post that, “It’s like in the diamond business of yesteryears. Some people look at a diamond, it talks to them, and they pay a lot more for it.”

Other dealers of Judaica items and some Orthodox Jewish leaders have differing opinions on whether it is appropriate to auction off these trousers, the Post reported.

Abe Kugielsky, the director at auction house J. Greenstein & Company, which specializes in rare and antique Judaica, told the Post that,  “I understand if it’s his hat, his tzitzit, or tallis or tefillin, but pants I find to be very repulsive.” He added that, “Imagine if they auctioned off the Pope’s sock.”

Another Judaica collector, Rabbi David Bashevkin, told the Post that the excitement of the prospective sale of the trousers was similar to the exuberant feelings that die-hard New York Knicks fans have for an authentic Walt “Clyde” Frazier jersey. On the other hand, he also told the Post that he was not at all comfortable with the commercialization “of people who we revere.”

Rabbi Bashevkin also told the Post, “I could feel fairly confident that the legacy Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky would want people to spend their money on would not be his clothes, but on sharing and analyzing his Torah and his religious ideas.”