Auction 95 Early Printed Books, Chassidut and Kabbalah, Letters and Manuscripts, Engravings and Jewish Ceremonial Objects
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![Letter from R. Baruch Ber Leibowitz, dean of the Knesset Beit Yitzchak yeshiva in Kamenets. [Kamenets, 1930s].
Letter in Yid](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale95/301.jpg "Letter of Blessings and Thanks from Rabbi Baruch Ber Leibowitz – Kamen")
Letter from R. Baruch Ber Leibowitz, dean of the Knesset Beit Yitzchak yeshiva in Kamenets. [Kamenets, 1930s].
Letter in Yiddish addressed to the Feigin family in Philadelphia, United States, donors of the yeshiva. R. Baruch Ber showers them with many blessings and thanks for their generous support of the yeshiva, describes the learning conditions in the yeshiva and how many students came from America to study in the yeshiva, including some likely to be the next generation's scholars.
The letter is mostly typewritten, and concludes with about 6 lines of warm and heartfelt blessings handwritten by the yeshiva's dean R. Baruch Ber Leibowitz.
R. Baruch Dov (Ber) Leibowitz (1864-1940), author of Birkat Shmuel, a leading Torah educator, was a disciple of R. Chaim of Brisk in the Volozhin yeshiva. He established a yeshiva in Hlusk, and later headed the Knesset Beit Yitzchak yeshiva in Slabodka. During World War I, he followed the displaced yeshiva to Minsk, Kremenchuk and Vilna, finally settling in Kamenets. He authored Birkat Shmuel, a classic Talmudic work of in-depth yeshiva study.
[2] leaves, official stationery. Approx. 27.5 cm. Good condition. Stains and folds.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Letter on postcard, handwritten and signed by R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski; with several additional lines handwritten and signed by R. Chizkiyahu Yosef Yitzchak Mishkovski. Vilna, 4 Adar I, 1913.
Sent to Berlin, to the emissaries of the "General Committee" R. Tzvi Hirsch Salant and R. Rivlin. R. Chaim Ozer writes that R. Mishkovski was to travel to Jerusalem, and tersely mentions some matters he dealt with, apparently also for the Eretz Israel fund.
R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski (1863-1940) was a foremost rabbi of his generation and leader of European Jewry. A disciple of R. Chaim of Brisk, he was appointed rabbi and posek of Vilna at the age of 24. He assumed the yoke of public leadership from a young age, and for close to fifty years, his opinion was conclusive on all public matters. This letter shows how already as a young rabbi (under the age of 50), R. Chaim Ozer took on responsibility in communal affairs.
R. Chizkiyahu Yosef Yitzchak Mishkovski (1884-1946), Rabbi of Krynki, immigrated to Jerusalem in 1904 and kept the company of his renowned father-in-law R. Yitzchak Blazer, whose position as leader of the Vilna Kollel and General Committee he assumed upon his death. In 1913 he left Israel in connection with appointing a new rabbi for the Ashkenazi community in Jerusalem (the present letter was written during this period), where he stayed (despite his plan to return to Jerusalem mentioned by R. Chaim Ozer in the present letter), and was appointed Rabbi of Krynki after World War I. During and after the Holocaust he was active in rescue efforts and establishing Torah worldwide.
Postcard, 14x9 cm. Good condition. Stains. Postmarks (one postage stamp detached).
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Lengthy letter handwritten and signed by R. Yehudah Leib Chasman, author of Or Yahel. Jerusalem, Kislev 1931.
Written on the stationery of the Hebron – Knesset Yisrael yeshiva in Jerusalem, and addressed to R. Yechezkel Sarna (who was presumably abroad at the time taking care of yeshiva matters). His signature appears on the margins of the letter.
The letter describes the precarious financial situation of the yeshiva, the need for food and repaying debts. R. Chasman apparently mentions R. Avraham Shmuel Finkel (son of the Alter of Slabodka), who was to raise funds in South Africa, but was unsure whether to travel to Africa or America. He describes the threat to the yeshiva's continued existence and the need to try to do anything to help.
R. Yehudah Leib Chasman (1869-1935), a leading Torah scholar of his times. Av Beit Din of Szczuczyn, where he established a large yeshiva which closed at the outbreak of World War I. After the war, he was highly active in the Vaad HaYeshivot, and was a confidant of the Vaad leaders R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, the Chafetz Chaim and R. Shimon Shkop. He served as mashgiach of the Hebron yeshiva from 1927 until his passing.
[1] leaf, official stationery. 26.5 cm. Good condition. Fold lines.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Two letters handwritten and signed by R. Isser Zalman Meltzer, dean of Etz Chaim yeshiva. Jerusalem, Sivan 1936; Adar 1937.
Addressed to R. Meir Berlin (Bar-Ilan), son of the Netziv (who was R. Isser Zalman's teacher at the Volozhin yeshiva). The first letter deals with income of the Union of Rabbis by the emissaries sent to Africa [South Africa], R. Yedidyah Goroniesky and R. Yoel Yochnin. The second letter deals with editing and printing Mishpat Kohen [printed at the time by the Society for Publishing the Books of R. Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook].
R. Isser Zalman Meltzer (1870-1954), author of Even HaAzel, disciple of Rabbi Chaim of Brisk in the Volozhin yeshiva, Rabbi and yeshiva dean of Slutsk. Immigrated to Jerusalem in 1924 and was appointed head dean in the Etz Chaim yeshiva. One of the heads of Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah.
[2] leaves. Official stationery. 14 / 28 cm. Good condition. Filing holes. Tears in filing holes of second letter, affecting text.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Huge collection of over 120 letters from the archive of R. Tzvi Hirsch Farber, sent to him by rabbis of England, Lithuania and various countries. Ca. 1910s-1960s.
The letters were authored by rabbis from various countries, including: R. Yechezkel Libschitz, Av Beit Din of Kalisz; R. Yisrael Binyamin Bendet Feivelson, Av Beit Din of Šaukėnai (Lithuania); R. Yitzchak Danzig of St. Petersburg; R. Aharon Levin, Av Beit Din of Rzeszów; and more.
Rabbis in England who authored letters include: R. Moshe Yitzchak Segal, dean of Manchester yeshiva (3 letters); R. Yisrael Chaim Deiches, Leeds (4 letters); R. Shmuel Yitzchak Hillman, Glasgow (7 letters); R. Moshe Eliyahu Rogosnitzky, Av Beit Din of Cardiff; R. Isser Yehudah Unterman, Liverpool; R. Shemaryah Menashe HaKohen Adler; R. Avigdor Schonfeld, Av Beit Din of Adat Yisrael, London (over 20 letters) and his son R. Shlomo Schonfeld; R. Israel Brodie, chief rabbi of England; and many more rabbis.
The recipient of the letters, R. Tzvi Hirsch Farber (1879-1967), a leading English rabbi. Born in Slabodka, he studied under R. Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor and under R. Yitzchak Blazer and R. Naftali Amsterdam, disciples of R. Yisrael Salanter. In 1910 he moved to England and was a pillar of Orthodox Judaism in London and England. He originally served as dean in the Manchester yeshiva, and many years later moved to serve as rabbi in west London.
Over 125 letters. Varying size and condition. Most on official stationery.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Report card of student Chaim son of R. Shmuel Greineman. Tiferet Tzion yeshiva, Bnei Brak, Elul 1936.
Report card for general exam, where the student was given a grade of "excellent" in comprehension and "very good" in knowledge, diligence and behavior. Signed by the rabbis of the "examination committee" and members of the yeshiva administration: R. Yaakov Yisrael Kanievski (the Steipler, who was also R. Chaim Greineman's uncle), R. Avraham Yitzchak Gershonowitz and R. Yaakov Schneidman.
R. Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky (1899-1985), an extraordinary Torah leader of the past generation, known as the Steipler after his hometown of Hornostaipil, Ukraine. Following his marriage to the sister of the Chazon Ish, he was appointed dean of the Novardok yeshiva in Pinsk, and in 1934, he immigrated to Eretz Israel to serve as dean of the Beit Yosef Novardok yeshiva in Bnei Brak, where he lived with his brother-in-law, the Chazon Ish. After the yeshiva shut down, he continued his studies in Kollel Chazon Ish and at home, authored the Kehillot Yaakov series and earned a reputation as an exceptional person with divine inspiration.
R. Avraham Yitzchak Gershonowitz (1888-1954), Rabbi of Zhabinka in the Brisk region (Poland-Lithuania), immigrated to Eretz Israel in the autumn of 1935, and was appointed head of the Tiferet Tzion yeshiva in Bnei Brak.
The recipient of the report card, R. Chaim Shaul Greineman (1926-2015), later renowned as a leading Torah authority, author of Chidushim UBeurim. A nephew of the Chazon Ish, he was ten and a half years old at the time the report card was written, and his brilliant mind and profound understanding were already recognized.
[1] leaf. 25 cm. Printed leaf, filled out by hand, with the yeshiva's stamp. Good-fair condition. Wear and stains, light damage to folds.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Three letters on postcards by R. Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg (author of Seridei Esh). Montreux (Switzerland), 1953-1954.
Sent to his friend Dr. Shmuel Greenberg in Tel Aviv (chairman of the Tel Aviv Council of Religion, formerly a director of the Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin). In the three letters, R. Weinberg addresses various technical details related to reparations and payments from Germany. He considers and debates filling in the forms, and notes various details relating to his stay in Berlin before the war and his position before the war as yeshiva dean and rector of the Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin.
At the close of the 1954 letter, he suggests Dr. Greenberg could edit a memorial volume for the Seminary.
R. Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg (1884-1966), famous posek and Torah scholar, and a leading disciple of the Alter of Slabodka. He served as head of the Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin, during the Holocaust as president of the Union of Rabbis in the Warsaw ghetto, and after the Holocaust as yeshiva dean in Montreux. His books include Responsa Seridei Esh and more.
The recipient of the letters, R. Dr. Shmuel Greenberg (1880-1959), graduate of the Pressburg yeshiva and the Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin, where he later served as lecturer and director. In 1936, he immigrated to Eretz Israel, where he served as chairman of the Council of Religion in Tel Aviv, member of the national Mizrachi board of directors, member of the Organization for Refugee Rabbis and founder of Torah and educational institutions in Eretz Israel.
3 postcards. Approx. 15x10 cm. Good condition. Stains and some wear. Postage stamps and postmarks.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Letter of R. Gershon Liebman, a head of the Novardok yeshiva movement. Paris, 1972.
Typewritten on official stationery of the Or Yosef yeshiva in France, and signed by its dean R. Gershon Liebman.
The letter was sent to Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum. R. Gershon reports to the Rebbe on establishing institutions in France to rescue destitute families from Eretz Israel from missionaries. R. Gershon adds that this stirred up a commotion in Israel, with the matter reaching the Knesset, but their opposition was unsuccessful.
R. Gershon Liebman (1905-1997), founder and leader of the Or Yosef network of Novardok yeshivot in France, and one of the greatest Novardok musar leaders of all times. R. Gershon arranged underground musar yeshivot in the ghettos and camps throughout the Holocaust, and established a Novardok yeshiva in Bergen-Belsen immediately after the war ended. In 1948, the yeshiva moved to France, where it expanded to a network of over 40 Torah and educational institutions.
[1] leaf, official stationery. Approx. 27 cm. Good condition. Folds.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Assorted collection of 14 letters on postcards, handwritten by R. Chaim Kanievsky to various nationwide correspondents. Bnei Brak, [1997-2001].
Thirteen letters containing short, plain answers to various questions on Torah and halachic customs. In one of the letters the Rabbi thanks the correspondent for his comments [on his book Derech Emunah]. In another letter sent to a correspondent in Brachfeld (Modi'in Illit), he simply tells the asker to visit him when he is in Bnei Brak [apparently the question was too complicated to answer on a postcard].
All of the postcards contain R. Chaim Kanievsky's name as sender, written by R. Chaim, and most also contain the name and address of the recipient in R. Chaim Kanievsky's handwriting.
14 postcards. 14.5 cm. Overall good condition. Stains and postage stamps.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Large collection of letters sent to the Ezrat Torah organization in the United States and its director R. Yosef Eliyahu Henkin, by yeshiva deans, rabbis and public figures from all over the world: Israel, United States and various countries, 20th century.
Includes letters from the following rabbis:
• R. Yosef Eliyahu Henkin. • R. Gershon Liebman, dean of Or Yosef yeshiva in France. • R. Eliyahu Eliezer Mishkovsky, yeshiva dean in Kfar Chassidim. • R. Chaim Milikovsky, dean of Amshinov yeshiva in Jerusalem. • R. Yitzchak Arieli, author of Einayim LaMishpat, a Jerusalem rabbi. • R. Moshe Aryeh Freund, dean of Yitav Lev Satmar yeshiva. • R. Menachem Ernster, dean of Vizhnitz yeshiva. • R. Zalman Rotberg, dean of Beit Meir yeshiva in Bnei Brak. • R. Yechezkel Partzovitz, a dean of the Tiferet Tzvi yeshiva in Jerusalem. • R. Eliyahu Zlotnik and R. Yaakov Yosef Herman of the Heichal HaTorah yeshiva in Jerusalem. • R. Refael Binyamin Levin, dean of Beit Aryeh yeshiva in Jerusalem. • R. Bentzion Lichtman, Rabbi of Beirut. • R. Yehoshua Zelig Diskin, Rabbi of Pardes Chanah. • R. Baruch Shimon Schneerson, dean of Tshebin yeshiva. • R. Eliyahu Shmuel Shmerler, dean of Sanz yeshiva in Netanya. • R. Shalom Eisenberger, Rabbi of Kiryat Sanz in Jerusalem. • R. Yosef Eliyahu Rakovsky, a rabbi of Miami. • R. Mordechai Menachem Burstein, Rabbi of Kansas City, Missouri. • R. Mallen Galinsky of Coney Island, New York. • R. Yosef Feldman, a rabbi of Baltimore. • R. Nissim Toledano, dean of She'erit Yosef yeshiva in Be'er Yaakov. • R. Yaakov Horowitz, dean of Ofakim yeshiva. • R. Shmuel Aryeh Levin, dean of Chafetz Chaim yeshiva in Buenos Aires. • R. Avraham Yitzchak Ulman, head of Tarbitza Kollel in Jerusalem. • R. Eliezer Baerland, dean of Shuvu Banim yeshiva. • R. Dov Eichenstein, a dean of Itri yeshiva; and many more letters.
Over 130 letters. Size Varies. Overall good condition.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
![Handwritten notebook, calendar for 5703 (1942-1943). [Europe, 1942-1943]. Notebook (grid paper) with details of the Jewish ca](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale95/311_1.jpg "Handwritten Calendar, From the Period of the Holocaust")
![Handwritten notebook, calendar for 5703 (1942-1943). [Europe, 1942-1943]. Notebook (grid paper) with details of the Jewish ca](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale95/311_2.jpg "Handwritten Calendar, From the Period of the Holocaust")
Handwritten notebook, calendar for 5703 (1942-1943). [Europe, 1942-1943].
Notebook (grid paper) with details of the Jewish calendar for the year 5703, aligned with months and days of the secular calendar.
Each page is dedicated to one of the months of the year, divided into days and weeks, with the Parashah, Haftarah and holidays noted. The notebook starts in Tishrei "September-October 1942" and ends in Elul "September 1943".
The scribe is unknown. Apparently, the notebook was written in the Nazi or Soviet occupied territories, during the Holocaust, as a replacement for a printed calendar unavailable to the scribe during those difficult times.
Many inscriptions (in pencil), with calculations related to the calendar and Moladot.
[7] leaves, with printed paper wrapper. 19.5 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains and wear. One leaf disconnected. Folds.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Talmud Bavli – complete set. Munich-Heidelberg, 1948. "Published by the Union of Rabbis in the American Occupation Zone in Germany".
After World War II, the demand for Talmud and holy books by surviving Jews congregated in the DP camps exceeded the few available copies. From 1946, the Union of Rabbis in Germany, with the assistance of the American army and the JDC, began to print volumes of Talmud for survivors. At first, only a few tractates were printed in various formats. In 1948, the present edition – a complete edition of the Talmud – was printed for the first time. Each volume contains two title pages. The first title page was especially designed to commemorate the printing of the Talmud on the debased German land; on its upper part is an illustration of a Jewish town with the caption "From slavery to redemption and from darkness to great light"; on its lower part is an illustration of barbed wire fences and a concentration camp, with the captions: "Labor camp in Germany during Nazi era", "They almost destroyed me on Earth, but I did not forsake Your precepts" (Psalms 119).
19 volumes. Missing first title page in Tractate Shabbat. Approx. 39 cm. Overall good condition. Stains. Tears, including tears to part of the title pages. Original bindings, with new leather spines (uniform).
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.