Business & Tech

One of the World's Only Judaica Auction Houses is in Cedarhurst

Woodmere resident Jonathan Greenstein considered leading expert on Jewish antiquities.

Jonathan Greenstein’s “cha-ching” moment happens when the phone rings or an email comes in, inviting him to dig through a closet or some other space.

Thanks to decades of experience, the Woodmere resident can spot an authentic Judaica antique, such as an 18th century silver filigree spice tower from Lemberg, which is estimated to be worth at least $12,000. Greenstein said he’s like a doctor looking at an x-ray — he just knows.

“There’s more Judaica shoved away in the closets of New York City than all the museums added up,” he told Patch. “Unless you have a true understanding of Judaica, you really don’t know what the value is. That’s where we come in.”

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Greenstein is the owner and chief expert at J. Greenstein & Co., an easy-to-miss storefront at 417 Central Ave., but as it turns out the world’s only auction house dedicated to menorahs, spice boxes, Kiddush cups and paintings that date back from 1650 to 1938. At any time, the auction house has anywhere from 300 to 500 pieces and sells about $1 million worth of items a year.

Falling into it

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When he was a 14-year-old kid from Brooklyn, Greenstein said his undiagnosed ADD got him kicked out of Jewish school. As a public school student, Greenstein said he had plenty of time after school, so he got a job at an antique store. People brought in Judaica to the store, and since the owner didn’t know the value of the items but knew they shouldn’t be melted down, he gave them to Greenstein in lieu of salary.

“At 17 or 18, I was going to flea markets and garage sales, any place that I could find a piece of Jewish ritual art, until I clearly had too much [stuff],” he said. “Over the course of the years, I became the authority on antique Judaica.”

He started dealing in antiquities, and after being asked to conduct an auction for Chabad in 2003 ($280,000 worth of items were sold that night), Greenstein, whose day job is in health care, got the idea to open an auction house. He closed his office in Brooklyn and moved to Cedarhurst, where he owned a vacant building. Greenstein also hired Abe Kugliesky as director of the auction house.

A small field

“When you’re talking about collecting antique Judaica, it’s such a micro niche in the art world,” Greenstein said. “I’m it when it comes to antique Judaica.”

How much of a niche is it? Greenstein estimates there are only 650 collectors in the world, including the 400 in America. Museums do buy some items from J. Greenstein sometimes though.

Collecting things has been on the decline for the last 20 to 30 years, according to Greenstein.

“People are more intrigued by modern garbage contemporary art than their own history and heritage,” he said. Pointing to items such as hand-carved ark doors and a handcrafted menorah, he said, “This is art. This is history. This is heritage.”

To boost interest in the field, Greenstein recently introduced auctions for lower-priced items, such as a box of Brillo with Yiddish writing from the 1920s and other pieces of Judaica that only go for hundreds of dollars.

The gallery’s next auction takes place on March 5, where items such as that silver spice tower will be up for bid. An internet auction will follow in April.

Much like every other field nowadays, most of J. Greenstein’s business is online. Greenstein said only about six people show up in person to auctions — most transactions are done on the internet or over the phone.

A community gallery

This is why Greenstein said the business could be located anywhere — your “grandmother’s garage” or “China.” But he does utilize the space for other purposes.

Greenstein recently ventured into originals works, teaming up with Neshama Carlebach, daughter of famous “hippie” Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, to create the Cup of Love and Prayer in honor of what would have been the rabbi’s 80th birthday.

The gallery has hosted shows for modern artists, including Elke Riva Sudin and Five Towns photographers Ahron Weiner and Darren Singer. A concert was also recently held there to benefit the Israeli Service Organization. Local students also visit to see the art.

“This is the Five Towns Museum of Jewish History,” Greenstein said.


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