Lot 110
Letters from Avraham Zeida Heller – War of Independence in Safed
Twenty three letters sent by Avraham Zeida Heller from Safed during the War of Independence. Safed, 1948-1949.
Rabbi Avrham Zeida Heller (1894-1990), head of a Yeshivah in Safed and one of the prominent public figures in the city. Heller was well known for his precedential rulings during the 1948 war. For example, he permitted fortification works on Shabat and on holidays, and protested against looting the property of the Arabs of Safed who ran away from the city.
Heller was involved, for many years, in public life in Safed and took an important part in managing the city during the War of Independence. (The story of Safed during the 1948 war is a very interesting and an outstanding one). In his letters, Zeida Heller provides important details and fascinating stories about daily life in the city during the war. The letters were sent to his daughter, Sarah Ora Heller Vilensky and her husband, during Sarah's studies in the USA (Heller's wife and his daughter Zipora added their words, in handwriting, to those letters).
From the letters: "The suggestion to quit the city is irrelevant now since traveling became more and more dangerous these last few days. The Arabs succeeded in operating electric mines and blow up two armored buses on the way from Rosh Pinah to Safed"; "the problem is that postal services are not working properly…."; "You probably know about the miraculous liberation of Safed…unbelievable that 12 thousand inhabitants, except for the foreign soldiers who stayed here, left the city, fleeing like mad…and while our soldiers prepared for a bitter and cruel battle they were surprised to find a vacated city, and we went wild like children…". Attached is: "Kol Tzefat", issue no. 10; copy of a letter sent by Heller on behalf of Safed Defense committee to Mr. A. Eilati, Governor of Safed; speeches delivered in HaAri Synagogue, typewritten. Sizes and conditions vary. Generally in good condition.
