Torah pointer from the Shtefanesht Hassidic dynasty, Romania

The Torah pointer was part of a collection of diamond-studded gold Judaica items created for the Shtefanesht hasidic dynasty. Following the death of Rabbi Avraham Mattisyahu Friedman, the last Admor (spiritual leader) of the dynasty, a relative came from Vienna to claim her inheritance. While traveling home she had to sell some of the items, including the Torah pointer, in order to pay off Romanian customs officials. They were bought by a wealthy member of the Ștefănești community, Leon Goldstein. On the eve of World War II, Goldstein made sure that the precious items were well hidden. Tragically, Leon Goldstein was murdered in June 1941 on one of the "death trains" that left Iaşi. His wife Hana and two children, Melvina and Shimon, survived the Holocaust in hiding, immigrated to Israel and worked to bring the Torah pointer there. In 2018, Leon's son Shimon Gonen (Goldstein) and his grandson Zvi Leibovich decided to donate this unique and valuable Torah pointer to Yad Vashem.