A pair of trousers coming up for auction are being described as “holy” — and not just because they’re a bit torn.
Rather, the trousers once belonged to the late Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky zt"l, an Israeli haredi Torah luminary and leader considered by his followers to be the greattest Torah authority of his generation. Rabbi Kanievsky died last year at age 94, and now anyone can be the owner of his trousers – provided they can afford them. The starting bid is $3,200.
The bidding at the Prime Judaica auction house in the heavily haredi New Jersey city of Lakewood which houses the second largest yeshiva in the world, Beth Medrash Govoha, begins March 1. The item is listed in Hebrew as “Holy pants from the Prince of Torah, our leader Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky.”
Included on the auction house page is a letter written and signed by Gedalyahu Konigsberg, who identifies himself as a grandson of, and former aide to, Rabbi Kanievsky zt"l.
“I, the undersigned, testify that these black pants… of the Shai Shaul company, with a rip on the bottom, were worn by my elder, the esteemed Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, of blessed righteous memory, for a long period of time,” reads the letter signed by Konigsberg. “I merited to see him wearing this with my own eyes.”
On the website of an online retailer, Shai Shaul trousers run from roughly $13.50 to $16.25.
Letters and legal rulings written by Rabbi Kanievsky zt"l have gone to auction for hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars and started going up for sale during his lifetime.