Thread by @Adderabbi

Okay, the latest Genazym catalog dropped in the last day or two.
genazym.bidspirit.com/?lang=he&utm_s…
And there's something really curious, perhaps even suspicious, about one of the most remarkable items on auction. This thread will raise the questions. I don't have answers. 1/n

One of the headline items on auction (starting bid of $100,000) is an extraordinary document: the intact pinkas (ledger) of Rabbi Hayim Rephael Sagri, a shadar (emissary, fundraiser) of the Jewish community in Tiberias, from the early 19th c. 2/n

The auction site has some amazing pictures and even some downloadable PDFs of all the rabbis and towns visited by this emissary. (Right in #HaMapah's wheelhouse!) Take a look:
genazym.bidspirit.com/?lang=he&utm_s…
3/n

Here's where it gets weird. While looking at some of the images, I noticed a stamp with a number: 13723.
That indicates that this MS was once part of a cataloged collection. So I wondered if there's a better description of it somewhere. I turned to the @NLIsrael catalogs. 4/n

Sure enough, it appears in both the main catalog and in KTIV, and has been digitized. (Unfortunately, KTIV's MS viewer is having trouble today.) The description in the catalog matches the description in Genazym, and an alt MS number of 13723 is given.
nli.org.il/he/manuscripts… 5/n

Now, it's in the @NLIsrael catalog because NLI has a microfilm (and now a digitized version) of the MS. But it was never owned by NLI. Rather it is (or, rather, was) part of the @JTSLibrary collection. 6/n

You read this right: A unique and valuable manuscript that was part of the @JTSLibrary magnificent collection is now on the auction block. How did it get there? It's hard to know. I'd be shocked if JTS is selling off its collection piecemeal and at auction. 7/n

I also don't think it was stolen, mainly because the item is no longer in the @JTSLibrary catalog. It seems that at some point JTS did somehow deaccession this item. Presumably, whoever acquired it then is now "flipping" it for profit. 8/n

This is still very problematic, though. Is JTS selling off or otherwise getting rid of unique and valuable treasures? Without trying to keep its collection intact? Someone - a serious investigative journalist - should take a look at this. /end

KTIV is working again. In case we needed more confirmation, here are two images - one from the auction site, one from NLI's digitization
It's the same item. What the heck is going on?

The icing on the cake (for me)? I just found my 4x great grandfather's signature in this pinkas. Avraham Segal (Levi) of Horb (am-Neckar), Germany, made a donation to the Jewish community of Teveryah in 1806!

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