Auction 24
Lot 048:
We received this holy chalice that was given to our holy rabbi Rabbi Chaim Elazar Shapira – “Minchat Elazar” of Munkacs during the meeting headed by him in the city of Tshap in 1922 (see below). To the best of our knowledge, nothing remained of this historical meeting (other than a printed protocol) and religious objects from this rabbi have not been yet sold in public auctions.The silver cup is engraved with the name of the Rabbeinu: “Rabbi Chaim Elazar Shapira Mukachevo [Munkacz] Tshap 1922”. The cup was found by a Jew in one of the markets of the gypsies in the Carpathian region, completely blackened and defective on the bottom. The man who discovered the name of Rabbeinu on the chalice was very excited and purchased it from the non-Jews. Because the cup was not properly preserved over the years and was in the hands of the gypsies, it was stained with various damage and suffered various blows which caused a large crack at the bottom. The cup was cleaned very lightly to identify the inscription clearly. The Rabbis’ meeting in Tchap was held in 1922, and many of the rabbis of Europe participated in a discussion of the prohibition of participation in the Agudath Israel movement, which was established a decade earlier. From this gathering there remains a strong protocol stating, among other things: “It was certainly accepted from all those gathered that in our countries, according to the religion of our Torah, we are not allowed to connect with the Association …” This proclamation is signed by Rabbi Chaim Elazar Shapira – the Admor of Munkatch, Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum – Av Beit Din of Arshiva [later the Satmar Rebbe] and another of Israel’s greats at the time.
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