Letter of recommendation by Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar, written and signed by the famous attendant R. Yosel Ashkenazi. Brooklyn, New York, first night of Chanukkah [25 Kislev], 1974.
Letter on official stationery of Rebbe "Yoel Teitelbaum, Av Beit Din of Satmar and the region", written and signed by "Yosef Ashkenazi – attendant" – "who writes and signs at the holy command".
Written for men "performing an important mitzvah for an urgently important matter that cannot be detailed in writing, and it is a great mitzvah to take part in it, each according to his means and God's blessing upon him, because a large sum is required for this. And may the merit of the mitzvah protect all those helping and assisting to be saved from all distress and afflictions and be blessed with bounteous blessing and success, as the Rebbe blesses and prays on their behalf".
Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar (1887-1979) was the youngest son of Rebbe Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the Kedushat Yom Tov (1836-1904), and grandson of Rebbe Yekutiel Yehuda, the Yitav Lev (1808-1883), who both served as rabbis of Sighet (Sighetu Marmației) and were leaders of Chassidic Jewry in the Maramureș region. He was renowned from his youth as a leading Torah scholar of his generation, for his perspicacity and intellectual capacities, as well as for his holiness and outstanding purity. At a young age, he was appointed rabbi of Irshava. In 1925, he was appointed rabbi of Karoly (Carei; in place of R. Shaul Brach who went to serve as rabbi of Kashoi), and in 1934, of Satmar (Satu Mare). In all the places he served as rabbi, he also maintained a large yeshiva and Chassidic court. He stood at the helm of the faithful, uncompromising Orthodox Jewry in the Maramureș region. He was one of the founding pillars of the Torah world in the generation following the Holocaust. After surviving the Holocaust, he emigrated to the United States, where he established the Satmar Chassidic community. He served as president of the Eda HaCharedit in Jerusalem, and as leader of Orthodox Jewry in the United States and throughout the world. His writings were published in dozens of books: VaYoel Moshe, Responsa Divrei Yoel, Divrei Yoel on the Torah and more.
R. Efraim Yosef Dov son of R. Shraga Feivish Ashkenazi (R. Yosel; 1911-2002), attendant and confidant of the Rebbe of Satmar for close to sixty years, and his close assistant in all communal matters. R. Yosef was a particularly astute Torah scholar, great in Chassidut and fear of God. During the Holocaust, R. Yosef accompanied the Rebbe on his journey in the famous Kastner rescue train, and later immigrated with him to Eretz Israel, and immigrated to the United States shortly thereafter. He was the owner of the Yerushalayim publishing house in Williamsburg. He edited his Rebbe's books in Halachah and Aggadah and published them (see his introduction to Responsa Divrei Yoel). Author of She'erit Yosef on the Torah.
[1] double leaf, official stationery. 21.5 cm. Good condition. Folds. Stains, creases and wear. Minor tears to margins and folds.
