Di Heilige Stroi
An item of Kedusha. It was the custom of the Admorim of Belz to lay straw (Yiddish: Stroi) at their feet on Yom Kippur, which they would stand on during the prayers. After the holy day, their Chassidim would gather small pieces of the straw, as a Segulah for protection. These are two small pieces of the straw on which the Tzaddik Kedosh Aharon of Belz stood, on two laminated cards.
On verso of the card, confirmation by the inheritor, Rabbi Yisrael Gavriel Adler son of the Rabbi of Turda. Size of card: 10X7cm.
The source of the custom!
The tradition began for the simple reason that the Rebbe would pray without shoes, and would bow down fully on Yom Kippur, so straw was placed as a Hefsek between him and the floor. During World War I, the Admor Rabbi Mordechai of Bilgoray, the son of the Admor Rabbi Yissachar Dov of Belz, became ill, and his situation was very dangerous. On Motzaei Yom Kippur, his father visited him and brought him a piece of straw on which he had stood during the Mussaf, saying: “Take from this straw in your hands, place it under your pillow, I pray that you will have a Refuah Shleima." Miraculously he was cured and arose from the bed. Ever since the Chassidim would steal bits of straw after Yom Kippur (based on Tzintzenet HaMan, Volume 2, p. 107).
