Two letters sent by Rebbe Yaakov David Kalisz, to the community of Amshinov Chassidim in Tel Aviv, one with his handwritten signature, and one signed by his close attendant R. Shalom HaKohen.
1. Letter of wishes for a good new year, with the handwritten signature of Rebbe "Yaakov David son of the Rebbe of Amshinov". [Tishrei, 1937]. The bottom of the letter contains an addition signed by the Rebbe's attendant "Shalom HaKohen", who wrote the letter on his behalf. This addition is the continuation of the second letter below.
2. Lengthy letter (2 pages) handwritten and signed by the Rebbe's attendant R. "Shalom" HaKohen, and with the stamp of Rebbe "Yaakov David Kalisz son of the Rebbe of Amshinov - rabbi of Żyrardów, Warsaw". The letter is about funds sent from Chassidim in Eretz Israel to their Rebbe. Żyrardów, Tamuz 1937.
Rebbe Yaakov David Kalisz (1906-1942, perished in the Holocaust), was the son of Rebbe Yosef of Amshinov and son-in-law of the son-in-law of Rebbe Avraham Mordechai Alter of Ger. He was an illustrious Torah scholar with exceptional proficiency in all parts of the Shulchan Aruch. He served as rabbi of the city of Żyrardów near Warsaw, and was appointed Rebbe of Amshinov after his father’s passing. Although his Chassidim wished him to relocate to Amshinov (Mszczonów), the community of Żyrardów refused to relinquish their beloved rabbi. After much discussion, it was resolved that R. Yaakov David would serve as rabbi of both communities.
Two letters, 3 leaves. Approx. 21 cm. Fair-poor condition. Tears and wear. Repairs and acidic tape with damage and stains to paper and Rebbe's signature.

Responsum regarding laws of Mikvaot (ritual bath), 17 lines handwritten and signed by Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar (Satu Mare), written at the foot of a letter containing a query handwritten and signed by Rebbe Yoel Moscowicz of Shotz (Suceava). Montreal, Canada [-Williamsburg, New York], Sivan, 1954.
The question and answer are recorded on the official stationery of Rebbe Yoel Moscowicz of Shotz. The question of the Rebbe of Shotz covers approximately one and a half pages, and the answer by the Satmar Rav occupies the second half of the back page, 17 lines in his handwriting and with his signature.
Rebbe Yoel Moscowicz of Shotz describes a situation in which the Mikveh of the community, due to some mishap in the building process, came out different to planned, which caused certain individuals to raise a cry that the Mikveh is unfit for ritual use, slandering him and R. Pinchas Hirschprung. The Rebbe of Shotz requests that the Satmar Rav reply swiftly, recording his opinion on the matter on the same leaf. The letter is signed "Yoel son of R. Meir of Shotz".
The next part of the letter contains the response of Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar: "I am responding briefly at the foot of your letter as per your request… in our place, we try to build the Mikveh with dimensions conforming with the most stringent opinions… if it is possible to adjust the Mikveh to conform with all the views, it would be preferable to make these changes…". The Satmar Rav subsequently offers two options to repair the pools of the Mikveh to measure up to all opinions.
The letter containing the question and answer was first published in Moriah, 53, pp. 25-27, and the responsum was again published in Responsa Divrei Yoel, I, Yoreh De'ah, section 66.
Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum (1887-1979) was a grandson of the Yitav Lev and son of the Kedushat Yom Tov who both served as rabbis of Sighet (Sighetu Marmației). He was renowned from a young age for his perspicacity and intellectual capacities, as well as for his holiness and outstanding purity. After his marriage with the daughter of Rebbe Avraham Chaim Horowitz of Polaniec, he settled in Satmar and taught Torah and Chassidut to an elite group of disciples and followers. He served as rabbi of Irshava, Carei (from 1925) and Satmar (from 1934). In all the places he served as rabbi, he also maintained a large yeshiva and court. He stood at the helm of faithful Ultra-Orthodox Jewry in the Maramureș region. During the Holocaust, he was rescued through the famous Kastner Train, and after a journey through Bergen-Belsen and Eretz Israel, reached the United States, where he established the largest Chassidic group in the world – Satmar Chassidut, until today the dominant faction in American Orthodox Jewry. He was a leading opponent of Zionism and the founding of the State of Israel. He responded to many halachic queries, and his writings resulted in the publishing of dozens of books: VaYoel Moshe, Responsa Divrei Yoel, Divrei Yoel on the Torah and more.
Rebbe Yoel Moscowicz of Shotz (1907-1980), a son of Rebbe Meir of Shotz and son-in-law of his cousin/brother-in-law the renowned Rebbe Shalom Moshkovitz of Shotz-London, was a descendant of Rebbe Meir of Premishlan (Peremyshliany). He was rabbinically ordained by leading Galician rabbis and established his study hall in the Stamford Hill neighborhood of London. In 1949, he emigrated to Montreal, setting up his study hall there, and was active in the Kashrut and Taharah agencies. In 1968, he immigrated to Eretz Israel, where he refused to serve as rebbe. He spent his final years emending and editing the writings of his grandfather R. Avraham David of Botchatch (Buchach).
[1] leaf, 2 written pages. 27.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Small dark ink stain. Folding marks.

Collection of handwritten letters and documents (including transcription of sermons and memoirs of the current Karlin-Stolin rebbe), documents and receipts from Karlin-Stolin chassidim in Jerusalem and the United States, ca. 1963-1989.
Some of the letters and documents date from the Rebbe’s youth, at the beginning of his tenure as leader of the Karlin-Stolin community.
· Letter requesting guidance from the Rebbe, with a list of agreed-upon guidelines. The letter contains 16 signatories. Jerusalem, 1970. The signatories include: R. "Shimon ben Rachel Leah Schwartz", R. "Shaul Yitzchak ben Feiga Chana Freund", R. "David ben Sheina Chana Shapira", R. "Yoel ben Chaya Slava Bookshpan", R. "Yoel ben Chaya Feiga Bookshpan", R. "Yechiel Tzvi ben Chaya Ekstein", and other well-known figured from the Jerusalem Karlin-Stolin community.
· Interesting memoirs including descriptions of the Rebbe's visit to Eretz Israel. Kislev, 1971. · Memoirs from the addresses of the Rebbe in the "holy court" in Brooklyn. Tishrei, 1973. · Letters written to the parents of the Rebbe requesting advice from their son regarding marriage suggestions. Jerusalem, 1963. (Note that the Rebbe was only eight and half at the time!) · Various interesting correspondence between chassidim in Eretz Israel and the Diaspora. · Receipts for "ma'amadot" money donated to the Rebbe, signed by R. "Shaul Yitzchak Freund". · "Kvittel" notes with various requests written to be given to the Rebbe. · Various documents and forms.
The current Rebbe of Karlin-Stolin, R. Baruch Yaakov Halevi Shochet (born 1955), was appointed rebbe as an infant upon the passing of his grandfather, R. Yochanan Perlow, in 1955. As a child and a young man he lived in his parents' home in the United States, while most of his chassidim lived in Eretz Israel, where they established the flourishing Torah institutions of Karlin-Stolin.
Approximately 75 paper items (printed and handwritten). Size and condition vary.

Letter with New Year wishes, by the Rebbe R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson of Lubavitch-Chabad, to R. Alexander Sender Yudasin of Tel Aviv. Brooklyn, NY, Elul, 1949.
Typewritten letter on the official stationery of the Rayatz, with his own signature, and two words in his handwriting.
The Rebbe Rayatz blesses: "In anticipation of the New Year…G-d should bless all our Jewish brethren in the Holy Land and in the entire Diaspora with long life, peace and rest…Ketiva v'chatima tova for a good sweet year". At the end of the letter, after "He who blesses you", two words are added in the Rebbe's handwriting: "in spiritual and material matters".
Leaf, 21 cm. Good condition. Stains. Folding creases.

Letter of protest regarding the management of Chabad institutes after the death of the Rebbe Rayatz, written by his wife, Rebbetzin Nechama Dina Schneerson. Brooklyn, NY, Adar Bet, 1851.
Typewritten letter in Yiddish, signed by Rebbetzin Nechama Dina Schneerson. Sent to R. Alexander Sender Yudasin of Tel Aviv. Written about two months after the appointment of R. Menachem Mendel as Lubavitcher Rebbe. The Rebbetzin fully consents to "the leadership position bestowed upon my younger son-in-law R. M.M. Schneerson, G-d should grant success to him and to his work…". However, she fights to defend the status of her elder son-in-law as head of the Tomchei Temimim Yeshivot in the US, Europe and Eretz Israel and manager of the Chabad Association.
The Rebbetzin writes: "…At the time my husband was alive in this world, he handed over and divided the tasks between both our sons-in-law. He gave the management of the Lubavitch Tomchei Temimim Yeshivot, in the US, Europe and Eretz Israel, as well as the management of Agudat Chabad, to his elder son-in-law, R. Shemarya Gur-Aryeh. It was his holy wish that his elder son-in-law direct these institutions. To my great consternation, a number of irresponsible people, some even with personal interest… with impertinence want to go against my husband's wish… I can no longer bear the 'bloodshed' which they bring upon me and my elder daughter and son-in-law. I apply to you, as a connected party… that you see to it that our people produce a document with their signatures, that they agree with me that now, after the death of my husband, the management of these institutions and also of Kfar Chabad in Eretz Israel must be handed over to my elder son-in-law R. Shemarya Gur-Aryeh, that he serve as president of the Tomchei Temimim Yeshivot in the US, Europe and Eretz Israel…".
Further in the letter, she writes: "Of course, in no way is this related to the presidency given to my younger son-in-law, R. M.M. Schneerson, G-d should succeed him and his work, and we are only referring to the three aforementioned institutions. Besides the mentioned document, I also request that our people send a protest to the local committee contesting their provocation, and send me both…".
Rebbetzin Nechama Dina Schneerson (1882-1971), wife of the Rebbe Rayatz, was the daughter of R. Avraham Schneerson of Chişinău (Kishinev), son of Rebbe Yisrael Noach of Nizhyn, son of the Tzemach Tzedek of Lubavitch. She wed the Rayatz in Elul 1897, and was devoted to and involved in the monumental activities of her husband. After her husband was imprisoned by the communists in 1927, she wisely and courageously steered the procedures which led to his release, at the risk of her own life. After her death, she was eulogized with the following description: "…Her personality contained the traditional pious Chassidic Rebbetzin, hand in hand with an intelligent woman who understands the spirit of changing times…".
The subject of the letter: R. Shemarya Gur-Aryeh (1898-1989), a close disciple of R. Shalom Duber of Lubavitch, who chose him as the fitting match for his granddaughter Chana, daughter of his son the Rayatz, becoming the latter's close assistant and accompanying his father-in-law for 30 years, throughout turbulent times. In 1928, they immigrated together from Russia to Riga, capital of Latvia and continued to Warsaw and Otwock in Poland. In the winter of 1940, he and his family were rescued from occupied Warsaw together with his father-in-law and in Adar 1940 arrived in Brooklyn, all residing together in the famous "770" (Eastern Parkway). From 1939, he headed the Tomchei Temimim-Lubavitch Yeshivot until the end of his life. [With the passing of the leadership from the Rayatz to R. M.M. Schneerson, an attempt was made to dispossess him of this position, however, due to the unrelenting opposition of his mother-in-law, R. Shemaryahu kept his position]. Although he was older than his brother-in-law, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, R. Shemaryahu fully accepted the Rebbe's authority with complete self-effacement and throughout the years was attached to his brother-in-law with his entire heart and soul. During the "farbrengens" (Chassidic gatherings), he would sit next to the rebbe. The two brothers-in-law would eat Festival meals together with Rebbetzin Nechama Dina until her death in 1971. The halachic and Chassidic discussions between the two brothers-in-law during these festive meals are recorded in the two parts of the book HaMelech B'Mesibo. R. S. Gur-Aryeh was an vigorous and active public figure, especially in all matters related to assistance to Russian Jewry living under Communist rule. His activities are well documented in the hundreds of times he was mentioned in letters written by the Rayatz. In one letter, the Rayatz writes to his son-in-law the Rebbe: "Your brother-in-law, my son-in-law R. S. toils greatly". An echo of his activities on behalf of Russian Jews is preserved in a letter by R. Chaim Ozer, who writes to R. S.Y. Hillman Rabbi of London about "The Lubavitcher Rebbe and his son-in-law R. S. Gur-Aryeh…".
Official stationery. 28 cm. Good condition. Stains. Folding marks. Filing holes.