A valuable present reached Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum this August (2016) – the Siddur "Korban Mincha", Vilna, Yehuda Leyba Macas Printing House, 1886.

This book was presented by Dr. Jay Levin, the member of Temple Israel, which is located in West Bloomfield, Michigan. 

The Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum is grateful to Dr. Jay Levin: the Siddur is returned to Vilna, the city, in wich it was printed, the city, which is a nursery of Lithuanian Jewish culture.

This Siddur is a very important donation for the collection of our museum. The Printing House of L. Macas was one of the most famous Printing Houses in Vilna in the 19th century.  

Dr. Jay Levin told us the story, related to the provenance of this Siddur, explaining his decision to donate it to our museum. Mr. Jay Levin wrote: "The Siddur was given to me by a friend of mine, Ms. Charlene Taylor, who is not Jewish.  It was owned by her Uncle Harry. According to Ms. Taylor's records, he was born some time in the late 1800s, but she doesn't know where. He died in 1980. He married her aunt on January 20, 1940 (her aunt was 40).  His parents lived in New York. Unfortunately there is nobody left to ask. She remembers her aunt saying something about his family coming from Russia or from someplace close to Russia. Her Uncle Harry inherited everything when his parents passed so she assumes the book was among the belongings.

I am Jewish and showed the Siddur to a librarian at Temple Israel, one of the largest reform congregations in the United States, of which I am a member.  Several people at the library examined the book and concluded that it was [...] published in Vilnius.  Therefore, I felt that the final resting place should be in your museum, and Ms. Taylor agreed."