The Luzzato Machzor, believed to be over 700 years old, was sold two weeks ago at the Sotheby auction in New York for the astronomical price of $8.3 million, the equivalent of NIS 26.6 million.
The Ashkenazi machzor of Rosh Hashonoh and Yom Kippur was written in the 13th century by a scribe named Avrohom in Bavaria, Germany, hundreds of years before the invention of printing. Since it is in prime condition despite its age, and because it was hand copied and illuminated by a Jewish sofer stam, it is considered to be one of the most significant works in the world of Judaica. It is also the most ancient machzor ever put up for public auction.
It was the custom during the Middle Ages to put out two large volumes of a machzor, both hand written, which made them very costly.
The machzor included all of the daily prayers of the year. The first volume included Chanukah, up till Tisha B'Av, while the second comprised Rosh Hashonoh until Simchas Torah. The Luzzato Machzor is the second volume of holy works belonging to the Jewish community in Germany.
These two volumes were usually kept in the private home of a member of the community, and the appropriate one was brought to the synagogue before the appointed season.
From the 16th century, until the mid 18th century, Jews living within the jurisdiction of the Pope were forbidden to own works that were alleged to defame Christianity. They were threatened with large fines or even imprisonment.
In order to avoid such sanctions, Jews would present their manuscripts to Christian censors. In some cases, the Christians themselves would publish the works, which apparently is the case with the Luzzato Machzor, where small sections were omitted, being thought disparaging to Christianity or to local rulers, as, for example, the paragraph "to remove the wicked rule from the world..." or "avenge the spilt blood of Your servants."
In the course of many centuries, the machzor wandered across Western Europe, from the Alsace region in Germany to Northern Italy and finally, to France. It received its name from Shmuel Dovid Luzzato, a Jewish Italian poet from the 19th century. After his demise, the machzor was acquired by the Kol Yisroel Chaveirim organization (Alliance), which kept it in its custody for 130 years.
At Sotheby's, they noted that the machzor is "undoubtedly the most important machzor ever put up for public auction during this past century." They claim that "this magnificent volume, preserved for over 700 years, is a marvelous creation, and is one of the few illuminated Ashkenazic machzorim, none of which, to our knowledge, exists in private hands."
This is not the first time that sifrei kodesh are sold at such a huge price. For example, a whole set of Talmud was sold in 2015 from the Daniel Bomberg edition for $9.32 million and in 2010, a full set of first edition chumashim from 1482 was sold for $3.86 million.
