Followers of the Chabad Lubavich dynasty expressed strong opposition last week to the sale of an item that was used by the movement's late leader, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, also known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
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The Moreshet Auction house has offered for sale the license plate from one of the cars in which Schneerson used to be driven. The New York state plate includes the numeral 770, which is also the same number as the address of the iconic Chabad World Headquarters, located at 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
Followers, who gathered last week for the annual Chabad conference of shlichim – emissaries – opposed the move, saying the item was too symbolic to be sold.
The license plate originally went up for sale at a starting price of $20,000 and reached $25,000. The auction house believed it would be able to sell the item for as much as $50,000. However, after pressure from the Chabad community, the sale of the item is now in question.
Members allegedly shamed the person they thought was the owner of the license plate, but who actually had no connection to the sale. As a result, the actual owner began to have second thoughts.
The motivation behind the Chabad community's opposition to the sale of the item is unclear, since the auction, scheduled to take place in about a week, will also feature much more personal items, such as cutlery from Schneerson's home. It will also include items signed by the Chabad leader and dollars he handed out to supporters.
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