Contract signed by R. "Eliyahu Eliezer Grodnensky". Vilna, the 7th of Nissan 1887.
Document attesting that he received a note from the bank stating that a total of 140 rubles were deposited under his name and that the money belongs to a girl (inheritance from her aunt Esther Strashun) and will be given to her when the time comes [This document was written about 20 days before R. Grodnensky's sudden demise at the age of 56 on the 27th of Nissan 1887].
R. Eliyahu Eliezer Grodnensky (1831-1887) was a prominent Vilna rabbi, son-in-law of R. Yisrael of Salant, founder of the mussar movement and father-in-law of R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinsky and of R. Reuven Dov Dessler [who named his son R. Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler, author of Michtav M'Eliyahu, after his eminent grandfather]. R. Eliyahu Eliezer served as head of the poskim of the city of Vilna [the most senior position in the Vilna rabbinate. From the death of R. Shmuel who was rabbi of Vilna during the days of the Vilna Gaon, the position of Chief Rabbi remained unoccupied]. He was known from his youth for his Torah genius and at the age of 25 was appointed Dayan in Vilna. His name was lauded for his clever rulings of monetary laws. Eventually, he served as one of the three leading members of the Vilna Beit Din together with R. Yosef, author of Porat Yosef and R. Shlomo, author of Cheshek Shlomo. His leadership was felt throughout Jewish Russia-Poland. In 1870, he participated in a delegation of rabbis sent to the Tsar to protect the "cheder" education system. After his death, his son-in-law, the famous R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinsky, succeeded him in the Vilna Beit Din.
Leaf, 13.5X10.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Worn and creased.

Collection of letters and papers from the archive of R. Leib Broide who was the assistant of the Chafetz Chaim in Radun. [1930s]. (On some of the postcards, the address of the sender is written above the address and name of R. Yisrael Meir HaCohen author of the Chafetz Chaim).
· Postcard with letters of good wishes sent to Radun on the occasion of R. Broide's wedding in Tevet 1931-1932. Including an autograph letter signed by R. Elchanan Wasserman. · Autograph letter signed by R. Yechiel Michel Rabinowitz Rabbi of Szczuczyn [author of Afikei Yam], with the addition of an autograph letter signed by his son R. Yitzchak Rabinowitz [rabbi in Szczuczyn]. Mentioned in the letter is the great privilege of serving the Chafetz Chaim. · Autograph letter signed by R. "Ya'akov Movshowitz" Rabbi of Berestovets. · Autograph letter signed by R. Chaim Shimon Top, a rabbi from Vilna.
· Autograph letter signed by the grandson of the Chafetz Chaim R. Eliezer Ze'ev Kaplan, manager of the Radun Yeshiva. Elul 1932. · Letter in Yiddish from his brother-in-law. [Radun, 1940]. · Letter from R. Yerachmiel [---?], "Committee of the Chafetz Chaim Yeshiva" in the US. 1939. · Prozbul signed by R. Amran Aburvia. Petach Tikva, 1959. · Typewritten leaf, regulations for the Radun Yeshiva students [apparently, by the Chafetz Chaim] on the topics of Torah study, guarding speech, renouncing general studies and prohibitions for reading secular literature and newspapers [with the exception of Charedi newspapers "such as the Tegblatt in Warsaw and the Dos Vort in Vilna"], more rules for the yeshiva management.
R. Aryeh Leib Broide of Vilna-Petach Tikva (1899-1987) was the faithful assistant of the Chafetz Chaim in his senior years. In his youth, he became close to the Chafetz Chaim eventually becoming his close assistant taking care of all the needs of his illustrious mentor. In 1930, the Chafetz Chaim traveled to Warsaw to meet the Polish president and requested that R. Leib accompany him on his journey. The picture of the Chafetz Chaim from this journey sitting in the station with R. Leib standing at his side is well-known. [In that picture, the Chafetz Chaim is wrapped in a winter coat which he borrowed from R. Leib, who is standing next to him wearing only his jacket]. The Chafetz Chaim made R. Leib's match with the daughter of R. Goldberg of Radun. [Recounted in the book Meir Ene Yisrael, Vol. 2, that when he became of marriageable age, the Chafetz Chaim sent him to the home of the Goldberg family and requested that he inform them in his name that in the opinion of the Chafetz Chaim, he is the groom who is suitable for their daughter]. The Chafetz Chaim sent R. Leib to study shecita and nikur and gave him semicha as a shochet and bodek [the only letter of semicha ever written by the Chafetz Chaim. This letter was lost to R. Leib after many years, at the time his bag was stolen while traveling]. In the last days of the Chafetz Chaim's lifetime, he directed his disciple R. Leib to immigrate to Eretz Israel, alluding to revelations he received from Heaven regarding the impending Holocaust hanging over European Jewry; and indeed, in 1934 R. Leib and his wife immigrated to Eretz Israel and settled in Petach Tikva.
9 items, size and condition vary.

Letter of Semicha (ordination) to the rabbinate, handwritten and signed by Rabbi Refael Shapira, head of the Volozhin Yeshiva. Nissan 1916.
Ordination for R. Binyamin Chaim Eidelstein, son of R. Yerachmiel Gershon Eidelstein, Rabbi of Szumiaczi. Contains high praise of his Torah proficiency and clear reasoning and ordains him with semicha.
R. Rafael Shapira, head of the Volozhin Yeshiva (1837-1921), son of R. Aryeh Leib, Rabbi of Kovna and son-in-law of the Netziv of Volozhin was renowned for his genius and diligence. During 1865-1881, he served as head of the Volozhin Yeshiva together with his father-in-law, the Netziv. Served as Rabbi of Bobroisk and other cities. In 1899, upon the re-establishment of the yeshiva [after its closure in 1892], he returned to Volozhin and was appointed rabbi and Rosh Metivta. During WWI, he fled to Minsk where he taught Torah for about five years until his death. His son-in-law was R. Chaim HaLevi Soloveitchik, Rabbi of Brisk, author of Chidushei Rabbeinu Chaim HaLevi.
The recipient of the semicha is R. Binyamin Chaim Eidelstein (died in 1943), eldest son of R. Yerachmiel Gershon Eidelstein, Rabbi of Szumiaczi. Rabbi of Shamovo (Mogilev district of Russia). Immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1934 and served as Rabbi of the Maccabi neighborhood in Tel Aviv-Jaffa.
Official stationery. 27.5 cm. 13 lines in his characteristic handwriting. Fair condition, tears and gluings to paper folds and margins, stains and few damages affecting text.

Two unsigned letters in the handwriting of R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, sent to R. Shlomo Sobol of Jerusalem. [ca. 1926].
Brief halachic responsa. In one letter [from the month of Elul 1926], R. Sonnenfeld concludes with New Year wishes "Who blesses you with a ketiva V'chatima tova to be inscribed immediately in the books of perfect tsaddikim with all the tsaddikim of the Jewish People, Amen". This letter is written on the verso of the letter of question handwritten by R. Shlomo Sobol (signed: "Shlomo Sobol of the holy yeshiva here in the Holy Land". Jerusalem, 1926. On the verso of the second letter, R. Sobol added a copy of his question [not signed]. At the beginning of both letters, R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld writes that the content of his responsa is not for practice "because it is only the way his opinion is inclined".
R. Shlomo Sobol (born in c. 1880s-1890s-died in 1970), son-in-law of the Jerusalem Maggid R. Ben Zion Adler, sent many halachic queries to rabbis all over the world, especially to R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, Rabbi of the Eda HaCharedit in Jerusalem. These responsa were printed by R. Sobol in his Salmat Chaim books which were published in a series of booklets during 1933-1970. Later, they were printed in two expanded editions (Bnei Brak, 1995; Jerusalem, 2007). R. Shlomo Sobol wrote that he possessed 152 letters which contained more than 1000 responsa of R. Y. C. Sonnenfeld written to him during 1922-1932. The first editions of Salmat Chaim contained only about half of the responsa, and many responsa were added to the new editions according to copies and manuscripts.
The letters of responsa offered here were printed in Salmat Chaim (2007 edition: Part of Orach Chaim Siman 244; Siman 174; Siman 207; Siman 150; Siman 341; Part of Yoreh De'ah Siman 59).
2 letters, [4] written pages. 20.5 cm. Good-fair condition, minor tears.

Letter by Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook [Abraham Isaac Kook], to Baroness Adelheid Rothschild. Typewritten in French. The letter concludes with 3 Hebrew lines, handwritten by Rabbi Kook, with his signature: "…Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, Rabbi of Jaffa and the settlements". At the end of the letter is another signature in Latin letters: "A. I. Kuck". Jaffa, 1914.
The letter contains a call to renew the support for the Etz Chaim Talmud Torah and Yeshiva in Jerusalem, an institute founded in 1841. Its alumni include many outstanding figures, rabbis, tradesmen and community activists. Mentioned in the letter are the Baroness' father and Sir Moses Montefiore and his wife Yehudit who routinely funded the Etz Chaim Yeshiva. Rabbi Kook requests that the Baroness recommence sending donations, "I see the urgency to do everything possible for the benefit of Judaism and the holy sites in Jerusalem and for the benefit of Etz Chaim".
2 leaves of official stationery, good-fair condition, creases and filing holes.