Long letter (2 pages) handwritten and signed by R. Tzvi Hirsch Meisels, author of responsa "Mekadshei HaShem". Chicago, [ca. 1960].
Sent to Jerusalem, addressed to R. Yechezkel Abramsky, head of the Beit Din of London. R. Tzvi Hirsch writes that he is sending his books "Mekadshei HaShem" and "Binyan Tzvi" Part II [printed in 1956], and requests in return R. Abramsky's book on the Tosefta.
He then asks for assistance for his father-in-law, Rebbe Yosef Panett of Dej. R. Tzvi Hirsch writes that his father-in-law is currently on his way to Eretz Israel but was delayed in Antwerp due to weakness and hopes to there by the upcoming Passover (the Rebbe of Dej did not ultimately immigrate to Eretz Israel and passed away abroad in 1962). R. Meisels asks R. Abramsky, on behalf of his father-in-law, to influence the wealthy Londoner Samuel Wolfson to fulfill his promise to establish a Beit Midrash in Jerusalem in memory of his ancestors, the Rebbes of Dej.
R. Tzvi Hirsch Meisels (1904-1970), a prominent rabbi in the United States, associated with the Satmar circles. A descendant of the "Yitav Lev" and son of R. David Dov Meisels, Av Beit Din of Ujhel. He served as Av Beit Din in Neumark from 1925 and in 1930 moved to serve as rabbi of Vác. During the Holocaust he lost his first wife (Rebbetzin Hena Zissel, his cousin, daughter of R. Chaim Yaakov Teitelbaum, Av Beit Din of Limanowa) and seven of his children, remaining alone with three children.
After the Holocaust, he served as rabbi of the Bergen-Belsen DP camp and Chief Rabbi of the British Occupation Zone in Germany. During this period, he was heavily involved in "agunah laws" for Holocaust survivors, and maintained extensive halachic correspondence with R. Abramsky, then serving as Av Beit Din of London, on whom R. Meisels relied for practical halachic rulings.
He later moved to the United States, where he served as rabbi and taught Torah in the "She'erit Yisrael" community in Chicago. In his second marriage, he wed Rebbetzin Breindel, daughter of Rebbe Yosef Panett of Dej, who bore him nine more children. From his 12 surviving descendants, illustrious lineages of rabbis and rebbes emerged, and he became related by marriage to great rebbes and rabbis in the United States.
R. Meisels authored several books, including his famous responsa "Mekadshei HaShem", in which he documented difficult questions that arose during the Holocaust years and stories of righteous Holocaust victims.
[1] leaf, official stationery (written on both sides). Approx. 28 cm. Good condition. Folding marks.
PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.
