Auction 96 Early Printed Books, Chassidut and Kabbalah, Books Printed in Jerusalem, Letters and Manuscripts
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Two letters handwritten and signed by R. Avraham Yoffen, dean of the Beit Yosef-Novardok network of yeshivot. United States, 1952-1958.
Addressed to his disciple R. Bentzion Bruk, dean of the Beit Yosef-Novardok yeshiva in Jerusalem. The letters discuss public and private matters pertaining to the Novardok yeshivot and their graduates.
In the letter from Adar 1952, R. Avraham blesses him to enjoy satisfaction from his sons and daughters, and tells him of his son R. Zalman Yosef [Yoffen] who was studying diligently: "May G-d allow his Torah to be his craft, in which case, with the help of G-d, there is hope that he will perform great deeds in bringing merit to the public".
He goes on to write of his disciple R. Gershon Liebman, founder of the Novardok yeshivot in France, and of his work to save Moroccan and Algerian children. He cryptically alludes to some criticism he had about discord between his disciples, asking R. Bruk to offer R. Gershon encouragement in his correspondence with him, and stressing the importance not to divide into factions while the rest of the world is joining forces against them.
R. Avraham Yoffen (1886-1970), son-in-law and close disciple of the Alter of Novardok. He headed the Beit Yosef-Novardok network of yeshivot for fifty years, and was one of leading Torah disseminators in his times, risking his life to further Torah study even under Communist rule. In 1941, he reached the United States, where he lived for some twenty years, establishing a yeshiva there as well. In 1964, he immigrated to Eretz Israel, spending his final years in Jerusalem.
2 letters. Official stationery. 28 cm. Good condition. Stains and folding marks. Slight tears and filing holes to one letter.
Three letters sent to the Rebbe of Satmar from the Or Yosef yeshiva in France.
• Letter (2 leaves) from R. Eliyahu Shneur, a dean of the yeshiva, and a letter from R. Gershon Liebman, leaders of the Novardok yeshiva movement. Fublaines (France), [ca. 1960s-1970s].
• Additional letter to the Rebbe of Satmar from R. Liebman's wife, requesting his assistance and support for marrying off her brother, a Holocaust survivor. Fublaines (France), 1961.
The letters were typewritten on the official stationery of the Or Yosef yeshiva, signed by the senders. R. Shneur thanks the Rebbe for his donation to the yeshiva's institutions and reports on the yeshiva's success "despite all the persecution" to teach Torah to hundreds of North African Jews and rescue them "from the evil of Zionism". However, he adds that, to his dismay, many other North African Jews were being attracted to Zionism.
R. Gershon, in his added letter, affirms what his disciple R. Shneur had written, and asks for the Rebbe's assistance with the increasingly large debts of the yeshiva due to the influx of the many new immigrants from North Africa.
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.
[4] leaves. Official stationery. 27 cm. Good condition. Folding marks.
Large assorted collection of over fifty letters from rabbis, Torah scholars and other figures. Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Russia. Ca. 1900s-1930s.
• Two letters from R. Tzvi Hirsch HaKohen Walk, Rabbi of Pinsk. 1902.
• Lengthy letter (4 pages) from R. Chizkiyahu Yosef Mishkovsky, during his tenure as Rabbi of Zhaludok (Poland, present-day Belarus). 1913.
• Letter from R. Avraham Yaakov HaKohen of Vilna (son of the Cheshek Shlomo). Tevet 1937.
• Letter from R. Yitzchak Begun, Rabbi of Židikai (Lithuania). Adar I 1932.
• Letter from R. Yitzchak Eizik Friedman, Rabbi of Tauragė. [1932].
• Letter from R. Yechiel Michel Berkman, Rabbi of Orikhiv (Taurida governorate, Russia; present-day Ukraine). 1908.
• Letter from R. Yosef Yoselevitz, Rabbi of Trzcianne. Trzcianne, Elul 1913.
• Two letters from R. Shlomo Natan Kotler (Rabbi of Luokė and Detroit) to R. Shlomo Yaakov Schein, Rabbi of Leckava (Lithuania). Memel (Klaipėda), 1933.
• Letter from R. Menachem Tzvi Taksin (author of many books including Or Torah and Ateret Tzvi). Brisk, Tishrei 1912.
• Letter (2 pages) from R. Yaakov Leibschitz, Rabbi of Konin (Poland), Sivan 1926.
• Letter from the Bureau for Agunot headed by the Devar Avraham of Kovno, signed by R. Eliezer Eliyahu Friedman. Kovno (Kaunas), 1932.
• Letter from R. Avraham HaKohen Levin, Rabbi of Papilė (Lithuania), Av 1937.
• Letter from R. Leib Schneider, Rabbi of Žeimelis (Lithuania), [ca. 1937].
• Two letters from R. Nata Yerachmiel Litvin, Rabbi of Kuršėnai (Lithuania). 1934-[ca. 1937].
• Letter from R. Yitzchak Yaffe, Rabbi of Upyna (Lithuania). Sivan 1934.
• Letter from R. Avraham HaKohen Weisbord, Rabbi of Smolensk. Jerusalem, Cheshvan 1935 (about a month and a half before his passing).
• Seven letters from R. Yochanan Mirsky, Rabbi of Zabłudów (Lithuania, present-day Poland). Zabłudów, 1928-1938.
• Six letters from R. Aharon Milevsky, Rabbi of West Alytus (later Rabbi of Montevideo, Uruguay). Alytus (Lithuania), 1934-1937.
• Three letters from R. Shalom Yitzchak Levitan, Rabbi of Švėkšna (Lithuania). 1937-1939.
• Two letters from R. Shmuel Menachem Liev, Rabbi of the Ashkenazic community in Kremenchuk. Ca. 1933-1934.
• Letter from R. Shraga Feitel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of Izabelin (Lithuania, present-day Izabyelin, Belarus). Montreal (Canada), Tamuz 1930.
• Letter from R. Levi Yitzchak Ovchinski (author of Nachalat Avot), Rabbi of Jelgava (Latvia). Tevet 1934.
• Letter from R. Henich Etkin, Rabbi of Luga (near Leningrad) to his son-in-law R. David Cohen, the Nazir. Luga, Tamuz 1937.
• Letter from R. Yaakov Walch to R. Moshe Gutman (of Baranavichy). Haradzishcha, 1931.
• Letter from R. Shemariah Helfand, to his brother R. Zalman Shmuel Shapiro in the United States (later Rabbi of Denver, Colorado). [Bobr, Mogilev governorate, Russia (present-day Belarus)].
• Letter from R. Aharon Mendel Vidrevitz to R. Zalman Chasdan (a Chabad chassid in Gomel), regarding study of shechitah practice. [Babruysk], 1928.
• And many more letters.
Over 60 letters, over 55 of them are signed. Most on postcards. Varying size and condition.
Letter on postcard from R. Isser Zalman Meltzer to R. Shabtai Yogel, dean of the Slonim yeshiva. Jerusalem, Adar 1953.
Typewritten letter signed by R. Isser Zalman Meltzer. At the top of the letter is an official stamp of "Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah in Eretz Israel – world organization of Agudat Yisrael". R. Isser Zalman invites R. Yogel to a meeting of the Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah to be held in Jerusalem on 2nd Nisan, 1953. He adds that the topics to be discussed are urgently important and urges R. Yogel to take part.
This meeting of Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah was held following the State Education Law (which was debated in the Knesset several weeks earlier and was later passed at the end of the year). In the meeting, the rabbis discussed how to preserve the independence of Charedi education. Consequent to the opposition of Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah, an independent educational network of religious boys' and girls' schools was established.
R. Isser Zalman Meltzer (1870-1954), author of Even HaAzel, disciple of the Netziv and R. Chaim of Brisk in the Volozhin yeshiva, Rabbi of Slutsk and dean of its yeshiva. Immigrated to Jerusalem in 1924 and was appointed head lecturer in the Etz Chaim yeshiva. One of the heads of Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah.
The recipient of the letter, R. Shabtai Yogel (1866-1958), disciple of the Netziv of Volozhin and R. Chaim of Brisk, dean of the Slonim yeshiva in Slonim as well as its founder in Ramat Gan. One of the heads of the Vaad HaYeshivot, Chinuch HaAtzma'I and Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah.
[1] postcard. 9.5x15 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, wear and creases. Filing holes.
Assorted collection of letters and recommendations given to R. Naftali Hertz Rogol. Lithuania, Jerusalem and elsewhere, 1930s-1980s.
• Letter of recommendation from R. Avraham Tzvi Grodzinski, director of the Ramailes yeshiva in Vilna. Vilna, Elul 1933.
R. Avraham Tzvi Hirsh Grodzinski (ca. 1857-1937), eldest son of R. David Shlomo Rabbi of Iwye, and elder brother of R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski. He served for close to fifty years as dean and director of the Ramailes yeshiva in Vilna.
• Letter of recommendation from R. Reuven Chadash, Rabbi of Halshany. Halshany (Lithuania, present-day Belarus), [ca. 1930s].
• Letter from R. Bentzion Bamberger, mashgiach at the Ponevezh yeshiva. Bnei Brak, 1965.
• Letter from Moshe Yoel Walkin (on the stationery of his father R. Shmuel Walkin), with an enclosed photocopy of a letter of recommendation he had received from R. Moshe Feinstein.
• Letter of recommendation from three rabbis calling to assist R. Naftali Hertz Rogol, who was visiting the sick and helping them lay tefillin. At the top of the leaf, letter from R. Binyamin Yehoshua Silber, to which R. Yosef Shalom Elyashiv added several handwritten lines and his signature, and to which R. Shlomo Zalman Auerbach appended a handwritten assent with his signature. [Jerusalem], Tamuz 1984. Additional handwritten inscriptions by R. Naftali Hertz Rogol (the recipient of the recommendation).
• Letter of thanks from R. Yaakov Rakovski, rabbi of the Hadassah hospital, in the name of the hospital administration and patients. Jerusalem, Adar II 1984.
• Letter of recommendation from R. Gavriel Ginsburg, Rabbi of the Tiferet Moshe congregation (Kew Gardens, New York), recommending R. Naftali Hertz for his daily lectures. Tamuz 1979.
• Enclosed: • Certificate from R. Shmuel Brom, Rabbi of Luzern, for A. Grossman, declaring him qualified to supervise kosher meat. Luzern, Elul 1929. German.
9 items, including 8 signed letters. Varying size and condition. Some repaired with tape and with open tears affecting text.
Postcard sent to R. Yosef Shalom Elyashuv (Elyashiv), with letters handwritten and signed by R. Chaim Kanievsky and his wife Rebbetzin Batsheva. Bnei Brak, [27th Tishrei, 1982].
In his letter, R. Chaim Kanievsky seeks to clarify the veracity of a ruling reported in R. Yosef Shalom's name disqualifying a lulav ending in a single leaflet, signing his name at the end.
In the margins of R. Chaim's letter, his wife Rebbetzin Batsheva sends her warm regards to all, with her signature. She then adds that she enjoyed her visit with them and that she hopes to meet again soon, signing her name a second time.
The letter was printed along with a facsimile in the periodical Yeshurun (XXVIII, Nisan 2013).
R. Chaim Kanievsky (1928-2022), leading rabbi of the present generation, only son of the Steipler Gaon, R. Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky, and preeminent son-in-law of R. Yosef Shalom Elyashiv.
His wife, Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky (1932-2012), eldest daughter of R. Yosef Shalom Kanievsky. The match between the two was concluded upon the advice of the groom's uncle, the Chazon Ish, who attested that as a daughter of a veritable Torah scholar, she was truly suited for him. R. Elyashiv later retold that when he consulted the Chazon Ish about the match, the latter praised the prospective groom profusely, even predicting that R. Chaim would one day be an outstanding Torah scholar renowned for his breadth of knowledge, just like the Rogatchover. When R. Elyashiv related this decades later, he added that at the time, it seemed to him that the Chazon Ish was overstating, as is customary for matchmaking, but in truth the prediction of the Chazon Ish was realized in full.
The Steipler, father of R. Chaim Kanievsky, held his mechutan R. Elyashiv in high regard, and would refer to him halachic questions and names to be mentioned in prayer and for blessings. He even sent people to be blessed by his daughter-in-law Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky, as a woman of holy lineage. Over the years, her great abilities were publicized, and many experienced salvations as a result of her prayers and blessings. Thousands of women flocked to Rebbetzin Batsheva, seeking her heartfelt encouragement and wise counsel.
Postcard. 14.5 cm. 11 lines handwritten and signed by R. Chaim, and about 7 lines handwritten and signed by Rebbetzin Batsheva. Good condition. Stains and postmark stains.
![Collection of 18 letters on postcards, handwritten by R. Chaim Kanievsky. Bnei Brak, [1999-2001].Short, concise responses to](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale96/244_1.jpg "Eighteen Letters Handwritten by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky – Bnei Brak, 199")
![Collection of 18 letters on postcards, handwritten by R. Chaim Kanievsky. Bnei Brak, [1999-2001].Short, concise responses to](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale96/244_3.jpg "Eighteen Letters Handwritten by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky – Bnei Brak, 199")
![Collection of 18 letters on postcards, handwritten by R. Chaim Kanievsky. Bnei Brak, [1999-2001].Short, concise responses to](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale96/244_5.jpg "Eighteen Letters Handwritten by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky – Bnei Brak, 199")
![Collection of 18 letters on postcards, handwritten by R. Chaim Kanievsky. Bnei Brak, [1999-2001].Short, concise responses to](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale96/244_6.jpg "Eighteen Letters Handwritten by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky – Bnei Brak, 199")
![Collection of 18 letters on postcards, handwritten by R. Chaim Kanievsky. Bnei Brak, [1999-2001].Short, concise responses to](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale96/244_2.jpg "Eighteen Letters Handwritten by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky – Bnei Brak, 199")
![Collection of 18 letters on postcards, handwritten by R. Chaim Kanievsky. Bnei Brak, [1999-2001].Short, concise responses to](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale96/244_4.jpg "Eighteen Letters Handwritten by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky – Bnei Brak, 199")
Collection of 18 letters on postcards, handwritten by R. Chaim Kanievsky. Bnei Brak, [1999-2001].
Short, concise responses to various questions on Torah matters and halachic customs, sent to R.Y.B. Goldenthal of Kiryat Sefer. At the end of one of the letters R. Chaim writes: "I put your money in tzedakah, and if you want you can come and take it". In one of the letters he writes to him: "There are many details in your questions that are difficult to answer in writing; when you are in Bnei Brak we will speak, God willing". In another letter he writes: "I didn't really understand some of the questions, visit when you are in Bnei Brak" [this is what he habitually answered when the question was too complicated to answer in brief on a postcard].
On all of the postcards, the name of the sender "Chaim Kanievsky" and the name and address of the recipient are in R. Chaim Kanievsky's handwriting.
18 postcards. 14.5 cm. Overall good condition. Stains and postmarks.
Large assorted collection of over fifty letters written and signed by famous rabbis and Torah scholars. Eretz Israel and elsewhere, ca. 1920s-1990s.
See Hebrew description for list of rabbis.
51 letters. Varying size and condition. Overall good condition.
Collection of letters handwritten and signed by R. Shlomo Yosef Zevin – six letters with interesting contents, from various periods and addressed to various people.
• Letter to the Heichal HaTalmud yeshiva administration, in which R. Zevin suggests delivering a lecture on the commentaries on the Mishnah by R. Meir Simchah HaKohen of Dvinsk, author of Or Sameach, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his death. Tel Aviv, Elul 1936.
• Letter to R. Meir Berlin (Bar-Ilan) on a team working on editing a book being published by R. Berlin. Tel Aviv, 1935.
• Letter of R. Meir Bar-Ilan on the Union of Russian Refugee Rabbis. Jerusalem, Elul 1948.
• Letter (2 pages) to R. Yitzchak Eizik HaLevi Herzog, Chief Rabbi of Israel, who had asked him to examine a Yiddish translation of the Talmud. [Jerusalem], 1951.
• Letter to R. Yehudah Leib Levin, Chief Rabbi of Moscow, on transferring his mother Chayah Zevin's remains from her grave in Kiev (where she had been buried 40 years earlier), as the city's cemetery was about to be removed. [Jerusalem], Sivan 1963.
• Lengthy Torah letter to his grandson Nachum [Zevin]. Jerusalem, [Cheshvan] 1964.
R. Shlomo Yosef Zevin (1886-1978), a leading Chabad rabbi in Russia and Eretz Israel. Ordained by the Rogatchover and Rebbe Shemaryahu Noach Schneersohn of Babruysk, he succeeded his father as Rabbi of Kazimirovo and several other communities. He was a prolific writer, editor of the Talmudic Encyclopedia, and a member of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate Council.
6 letters, all on official stationery. Varying size and condition. Overall good condition.
Collection of documents, letters, posters and notices from the rabbinate and community institutions in Buenos Aires, in Hebrew and Yiddish, most addressed or related to R. Yaakov Fink, Rabbi of Argentina and Haifa. Buenos Aires and elsewhere, 1940-1970.
The items include:
• A Ketubah from Buenos Aires, 1941, with a confirmation signed and stamped by R. Yaakov Fink in 1952.
• Divorce document, approval of divorce and appointment of agent, from Buenos Aires, 1959, signed by R. Shmuel Yaakov Glicksberg, Rabbi of Buenos Aires, and other rabbis.
• Prayer for inauguration of the Jewish National Fund by R. Yaakov Fink. Typewritten.
• Printed poster, notice of a sermon by R. Yaakov Fink, vice president of the Mizrachi in Buenos Aires, on March 18, 1943. Yiddish.
• Handwritten notebook, congratulations for the wedding of R. Yaakov Fink in 1941, with dozens of signatures by rabbis and students of the Buenos Aires Torah school.
• Certificate for R. Yaakov Fink's activity as director of the Institute for Jewish Studies in Buenos Aires, from 1951.
• Letters sent to R. Yaakov Fink on rabbinic and communal matters.
R. Yaakov Fink (1902-1984) studied under R. Meir Arik and R. Yosef Engel, as well as in other renowned Galician yeshivas and the Berlin Rabbinical Seminary. At the start of the Holocaust in 1939, he fled to Argentina, where he was appointed Rabbi and began to establish yeshivas, Torah schools, mikvaot and other Jewish necessities. His Beit Din addressed many questions of divorce and agunot in the wake of the Holocaust. He later served as Rabbi of Brazil and again as Chief Rabbi of Argentina. In 1963 he immigrated to Eretz Israel and was appointed dayan and head of the Haifa Beit Din.
41 items. Varying size and condition.
Collection of letters and documents from rabbis and public figures, mainly from South America, most sent to R. Yaakov Fink from 1940-1986.
The letters include:
• Letter from R. Ze'ev Tzvi HaKohen Klein, Rabbi of Eisenstadt, Berlin and Buenos Aires. [Buenos Aires, ca. 1940s].
• Letter of R. Yeshayah David Briskman. Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), 1951.
• Two letters from R. Natan David Rosenblum of Apta. Avellaneda (Argentina), 1951-1955.
• Letter from R. Yehoshua Segal Deutsch, Rabbi of Adat Yisrael in Montevideo and Katamon. Jerusalem, 1953.
• Three letters from R. Shmuel Yaakov Glicksberg, Rabbi of Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires, 1958-1959.
• Ten letters from R. Nechemiah Berman, Chief Rabbi of Uruguay, including a letter of consolation addressed to R. Fink's family after his passing. Buenos Aires, 1964-1986.
• Three letters from R. Yosef Zolty, Rabbi of Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires, 1965.
• Two letters from the Sephardic Chief Rabbinate, signed by R. Moshe Chehebar. Buenos Aires, 1965.
• Letter from R. Yerachmiel Blumenfeld, Rabbi of Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), 1966.
• Two letters from R. Avraham Mordechai Hershberg, Rabbi of Mexico City and president of the Latin American Rabbinical Center. Mexico, 1968.
• Three letters from R. Shmuel Aryeh Levin, dean of the Chafetz Chaim yeshiva in Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires and Bnei Brak, 1969-1972.
• Letter from R. Yosef HaKohen Oppenheimer, Rabbi of the Achdut Yisrael community. Buenos Aires, 1972.
• And more.
R. Yaakov Fink (1902-1984) studied under R. Meir Arik and R. Yosef Engel, as well as in other renowned Galician yeshivas and the Berlin Rabbinical Seminary. At the start of the Holocaust in 1939, he fled to Argentina, where he was appointed Rabbi and began to establish yeshivas, Torah schools, mikvaot and other Jewish necessities. His Beit Din addressed many questions of divorce and agunot in the wake of the Holocaust. He later served as Rabbi of Brazil and again as Chief Rabbi of Argentina. In 1963 he immigrated to Eretz Israel and was appointed dayan and head of the Haifa Beit Din.
33 items. Varying size and condition.
![Manuscript booklet (8 pages), two Torah novellae essays. Starobin, [ca. 1900s-1910s]. Especially fine writing [apparently by](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale96/249_1.jpg "Manuscript Torah Novellae Booklet – Starobin, Ca. 1900s-1910s")
![Manuscript booklet (8 pages), two Torah novellae essays. Starobin, [ca. 1900s-1910s]. Especially fine writing [apparently by](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale96/249_3.jpg "Manuscript Torah Novellae Booklet – Starobin, Ca. 1900s-1910s")
Manuscript booklet (8 pages), two Torah novellae essays. Starobin, [ca. 1900s-1910s].
Especially fine writing [apparently by a young man]. First four pages containing a pilpul on yibum and gid hanasheh. A second essay is concerned with halachic documents and presumption of ownership.
The script and style appear to belong to a young man, but the penetrating understanding and comprehensive knowledge displayed give the impression of being written by one of the prodigy sons of R. David Feinstein, Rabbi of Starobin, who was appointed Rabbi of the city in 1907: R. Yaakov Feinstein, R. Yissachar Dov Ber Feinstein (the shochet in Starobin), R. Moshe Feinstein (the "prodigy of Starobin", later author of Igrot Moshe) or R. Mordechai Feinstein (later Rabbi of Shklow). The author was unlikely to be their older brother R. Avraham Yitzchak Feinstein (father of R. Yechiel Michel Feinstein) who was already married when their father moved to Starobin.
[2] double leaves (8 written pages). Good condition. Stains, wear and folding marks.