Rare Gemilas Chesed manuscript listed for $9,500 on eBay sparks inquiry
Historic item appears online then disappears, leaving questions
An unearthed historic manuscript briefly floated online before disappearing again. Described as “Gemilas Chesed Synagogue Scroll Fragment,” the item was listed on eBay with a $9,500 price tag.
The artifact, which included names of Jewish community members from nearly a century ago, caught state Rep. Abigail Salisbury’s attention. She then took to the Facebook group Jewish Pittsburgh, writing that she and another elected official are working with local law enforcement to understand “possible theft and sale of items from the former McKeesport synagogue.”
Gemilas Chesed was founded in 1886 and remained in McKeesport until 1963, when it moved to White Oak. Neither McKeesport nor White Oak are within Salisbury’s District 34.
“My goal is not to get anybody punished,” she told the Chronicle. “I would just like to get this back.”
Within the eBay listing, the seller noted, “I have this Hebrew manuscript that is from the Gemilas Chesed Synagogue in McKeesport Pa. Located on Water Street. I demolished the building back in the early 70s and this was found inside the Corner Stone in a Atlas mason jar which is included as found. Selling as is the material is made of Silk.”
Salisbury said she reached out to McKeesport police, who referred the matter to Allegheny County.
The district attorney’s office said the case was still in the “investigative” stage.
Eric Lidji, director of the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives at the Heinz History Center, said he learned about the document “late last year” after receiving a link to the listed item.
Seeing photographs of the manuscript didn’t raise any concern about whether the document was stolen; instead, Lidji thought about the price.
“There’s no way we could afford $9,500,” he said.
Based on the seller’s photos, Lidji recognized that the names listed were of those who contributed to a building fund for Anshe Sfard Galitzin, a congregation formed around 1897. The document also included a date, “Yom Echad B’Parshat Shelach,” which corresponded to the cornerstone laying on June 2, 1907.
Lidji surmised the manuscript is “clearly not paper” and called the document “extremely rare.”
“I can’t think of anything that we have or anyone around here has that is preserved in this shape,” he added.
The circumstances surrounding the listing led Lidji to say he has no interest in “dragging someone’s reputation through the mud,” and that he’s reluctant to denigrate sellers, buyers or those involved in private acquisitions of historic Jewish items.
“You do have the right to make those choices,” he continued. Still, the Rauh Jewish Archives has a “strong agenda to allow things to go to places where the most people can use them for the most amount of time.”
There’s a calculation to be made, according to Lidji: When items aren’t publicly available, the historical record is a “teensy bit weaker so one or two people’s knowledge can be a bit stronger. My philosophy is for more people to have access to these things than fewer.”
Shortly after Salisbury’s post, and a related story by KDKA, the listing was removed from eBay. In its place is a notice that “This listing was ended by the seller on Fri, Feb 28 at 9:11 AM because the item is no longer available.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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