$ 18,000 robe, pages written in hundreds of dollars

• Baba Sally's stroll in Netivot (they have no connection to the news)

36 years after his death, Baba Sally's memory continues to bring in millions to dealers and auction houses. A check on sales sites and closed forums of collectors reveals that every year dozens of items are exchanged between collectors and memorabilia that were used by the rabbi of Netivot for a total of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year at least, with each transaction charging 17 to 20 percent commission.

Baba Sally, the late Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzira, was a rabbi and Kabbalist, a member of an important family of rabbis. He was born in Morocco to Rabbi Massoud, rabbi of the city of Tafilat, and was the grandson of the Admor Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzira. He served as Chief Rabbi in Morocco until he immigrated to Jerusalem in 1950; He later returned to Morocco, but returned to Israel in 1964 and settled in the town of Netivot.

In his life Baba Sally was most admired by many sections of the population: he was known as a "worker of salvation" and had masterpieces and great and good flocked to his home for advice and blessing. Even after his death, sympathy for Baba Sally did not cease - and his tomb became a pilgrimage site visited by hundreds of thousands of people every year.

Alongside this, an industry collectibles market was created where items that belonged to Baba Sally were sold: from clothing items like robes and kippahs, to more everyday items like watches and tobacco boxes to the sacred utensils in his possession, books from which he studied or documents he wrote. In the past, stones that were allegedly taken from the yard of the rabbi's grave in Netivot were even offered for sale in a chain.

The prices of the items vary: robes used by the rabbi, for example, are a coveted item that costs a lot: a simple white robe sold in the past for $ 12,000, while a white and festive robe sold for $ 16,000 and another one for $ 18,000; A long gray robe with a hat costs $ 15,000, while for a blue robe you will be asked to pay about $ 17,000. The rabbi's robes are offered for sale with relatively high frequency, and this year alone a short gray robe for $ 8,000 has been offered for sale. A robe made by Baba Sally to be wrapped in it on the day of the coming of the Messiah is not for sale (yet); The robe adorned with silver embroidery was given to the late Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu by Baba Sally who asked him to wear it "when the Messiah of our righteousness comes." Baba Sally's dome, on the other hand, is a more affordable item and sold for $ 5,000 in mid-2017; Gold used by the rabbi was previously sold for $ 3,400.

Baba Sally's residence in Netivot is also a particularly valuable item: over the years, various businessmen have tried to purchase the apartment from family members, with the highest bids reaching NIS 2.5 million for the modest apartment, but were unsuccessful.

Blessed water for the rich only

The various objects and items in the possession of Rabbi Netivot are in high demand among the collecting public and they are willing to pay large sums of money for more everyday items as well: for example, a silver box for storing snuff that belonged to the rabbi was sold for $ 2,000, and the original tobacco box Of the rabbi until his last days, in which the original tobacco from which the rabbi smelled, was sold for $ 4,000.

The book of Psalms in which Baba Sally read and prayed was offered for sale at a starting price of $ 10,000 and sold at a double price of $ 20,000; The mouthpiece he used to poke was offered for sale twice, and the second time it sold for $ 6,000, and another mouthpiece he had was offered for sale at an opening price of $ 15,000, but was not sold. People also purchased individual pages on which the handwriting, signature and stamp of Baba Sally or a piyyut he copied in his handwriting for hundreds of dollars. Letters and certificates in Baba Sally's handwriting also sell for hundreds of dollars each; Thus, for example, a manuscript of piyyutim composed by the rabbis of the Abuhatzira family, containing only one page in the handwriting of Baba Sally, sold for $ 650. And how much is a bottle of blessed water given by Baba Sally worth? - $ 1,500. Such a bottle, the only one ever offered for sale, was purchased from the family of a spiritual overseer at a yeshiva in Petah Tikva who received it from Baba Sally and used the water in it to cure illnesses of family members and students.

The matter of the Abuhatzira family did not stop at Baba Sally: a letter written by Baba Sally's brother, Rabbi David Abuhatzira, sold for $ 20,000; A marriage certificate signed by Baba Sally's son, Rabbi Meir Abuhatzira, sold for $ 1,300. By the way, quite a few people buy items of the Abuhatzira family for commercial purposes and not for collectibles. Thus, for example, a snuff container (with a spoon) containing some tobacco that may have been left over from Baba Sally's use was sold at the beginning of the year for $ 4,400, a month after it was purchased from the original owners for $ 1,000; Similarly, a box of Etba by Baba Khaki, Baba Sally's brother, was purchased earlier this year for $ 950 and sold a month later for $ 1,600.

Herzl bill for $ 1,800

From time to time new items appear on the market, which have not been sold before. Thus, for example, the rabbi's prayer book is now for sale, handwritten from 1793 according to the Aryan text with Kabbalistic explanations, intentions and peculiarities, two volumes of Gemara that also belonged to Baba Sally and were used, as well as two NIS 50 bills (old) Each one.The bills are framed with a confirmation and signature attached that they came from the "Baba Sally" himself.In the past a total of $ 1,800 was paid for a similar bill (of ten old shekels) with a picture of Herzl.

So how much money exactly is the sales industry rolling in of items related to Baba Sally and his family? - It is difficult to know, since many items are sold privately next door and not through the auction houses, but Moshe Nachmani, a collector of antique items specializing in Judaica, estimates that it is quite a bit of money: "The collectibles industry is huge and embraces countries, so it is impossible to know how much it is "Rolling, but if the reference is to the field of Judaica, then with regard to transactions made here in Israel, especially those made through auction houses, there is no doubt that the market rolls in tens of millions of dollars every year, and possibly hundreds."

Why are people willing to pay so much money for Baba Sally items?

"There are three reasons for this. It started by attributing sanctity to the handwriting of a righteous man, who is able to preserve the one who holds it, and even guarantee him success in his business. Then the idea was expanded, and a belief developed that the righteous man's objects, especially holy books, were sacred. Because sparks from the soul of the Tzaddik clung to them while they were in his possession. As proof of this, several sages' midrashim mention that the saint of the Tzaddik holds his garments and belongings. In recent years, the market for the purchase of righteous objects by collectors in Israel and around the world has grown, especially those from the Hassidic world. Around this also developed another circle of trade in these items, with the focus being those enthusiastic collectors. There is a great demand for books that are considered 'virtue' for offspring, easy birth, success in earning a living, and more. It is, of course, influenced by the general spirit of the ultra-Orthodox street, including the Lithuanian one, which is increasingly drawn to mysticism and masterpieces. "