Most sacred – personal papers [ teudat zehut ] of the author of Yeshuot Moshe , the sacred Admo”r Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager of Vizhnitz. [Old-style format, a booklet with a cardboard binding and leaves, similar to passports of our times.] With a passport picture of the Rebbe, and his signature. Ramat Gan, 1961.
One-of-a-kind historic-Chassidic item – ID booklet of one of the most unique tzaddikim of the previous generation, including the Rebbe’s personal details: the place and date of his birth, height, eye color [brown] and hair color [black], along with a list of his children with their birthdates. The list of children includes: his daughter, Rebbetzin Hinda (wife of Rabbi Menachem Ernster), his son Rabbi Menachem Mendel, the Admo”r of Vizhnitz Mercaz shlit”a, Rebbetzin Sarah (the Admo”r of Belz’s wife) and Rebbetzin Sasha (wife of the Admo”r Rabbi Aharon of Satmar). The document does not list the Rebbe’s older sons, nor his daughter the Skverer Rebbetzin, nor his son, Rabbi Yisrael – the Admo”r of Vizhnitz. Apparently only his younger children were recorded in these papers.
Another important historic-Agudist detail that appears here are the stamps for voting for the Knesset and local municipalities. The teudat zehut booklet used to be stamped each time a citizen would exercise his right to vote at a polling station. This booklet bears stamps attesting to the Yeshuot Moshe’s participation in the elections for the fifth Knesset, the seventh, the eighth, the ninth and the tenth Knessets [between 1960 and 1981], along with stamps demonstrating the Yeshuot Moshe’s participation in Bnei Brak’s local elections during this same period. It is interesting to note that there is no stamp attesting to the Vizhnitzer Rebbe’s participation in the sixth Knesset, which took place on 7 Cheshvan 1965. Historians of Vizhnitz Chassidut offer several explanations.
Belongings of tzaddikim carry immense segulah, as attested in Divrei Torah by the Minchat Elazar of Munkacs (first edition, sections 22-23) as follows: “We found that tzaddikim among our rabbis and ancestors considered the items tzaddikim had used significant, and some tzaddikim and Chassidim paid huge amounts for such items, etc. The source for this is the Yerushalmi, which states that an item that was used by a tzaddik, although it is a material item, it yields knowledge, along with all sorts of this-worldly benefits.” It is also brought in the name of Rabbi Moshe of Kossov, author of Lekket Ani , as follows: “Any item that comes from a sacred person, when held by an ill person, causes the external force to flee from him, and as a result, he recovers.” Here is the Rebbe’s most personal official belonging – his identity card, in its most basic meaning.
Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of the Admo”r Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager, author of Yehoshuot Moshe of Vizhnitz .
[1] official booklet, [14] pp. 11×7 cm. Including the Rebbe’s photograph and his signature.
Fine-very fine condition. Official plastic-covered cardboard binding with the State seal.
