Lot 237
Letter from Rabbi Baruch Ber Leibowitz - Blessings for Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook and his Uncle Rabbi Dov Kook
Letter handwritten and signed by R. Baruch Ber Leibowitz, dean of the Kamenitz yeshiva. [Kamenitz (Kamyanyets)], "5th Tishrei" [ca. 1937].
Addressed to R. Dov Kook (brother of R. Avraham Yitzchak Kook), director of the Harry Fischel institute in Jerusalem. The leaf begins with a letter from the gabbai of the Kamenitz yeshiva library, expressing their gratitude for the book he sent - teachings of the Rishonim on Tractate Moed Katan (published in Jerusalem by the Harry Fischel institute, 1937). Another letter follows (8 lines), handwritten and signed by the yeshiva dean R. Baruch Ber, thanking them for the book, and blessing R. Dov Kook and his "nephew, the eminent Torah scholar, R. Tzvi Yehuda - blessing you with great satisfaction for many years to come, and with all your hearts' wishes for the good…".
R. Baruch Dov (Ber) Leibowitz (1864-1939), author of Birkat Shmuel, was a leading disseminator of Torah in his generation. He was a disciple of R. Chaim of Brisk in the Volozhin yeshiva and son-in-law of R. Avraham Yitzchak Zimmerman Rabbi of Halusk. After the latter relocated to Kremenchug to serve as rabbi there, R. Baruch Ber succeeded him as rabbi of Halusk and established there a yeshiva. After 13 years, he was invited to serve as dean of the Knesset Beit Yitzchak yeshiva in Slabodka. During WWI, he wandered with the yeshiva to Minsk, Kremenchug and Vilna, finally establishing it in Kamenitz. He authored Birkat Shmuel on Talmudic topics. His orally transmitted and written teachings are the basis of in-depth yeshiva study.
[1] leaf, official stationery. 28 cm. Good-fair condition. Tears and damage to paper (not affecting text). Folding marks.
