Auction 96 Early Printed Books, Chassidut and Kabbalah, Books Printed in Jerusalem, Letters and Manuscripts
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Letter handwritten and signed by R. Yitzchak Elchanan (Spektor), Rabbi of Kovno. Kovno, Sivan 1889.
Rabbinical ordination of "R. Yisrael Yehonatan Yerushalimsky, son of… R. Yaakov Moshe, Rabbi of Mush", declaring him fit to issue halachic rulings.
R. Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor (1817-1896), Rabbi of Kovno, prominent rabbi considered the highest halachic authority of his times, and leader of Lithuanian and Russian Jewry.
The recipient of the ordination, R. Yisrael Yehonatan Yerushalimsky, Rabbi of Orlya and Ihumen (Chervyen; 1860-1917), son of R. Yaakov Moshe Direktor, Rabbi of Mush (Novaya Mysh), and son-in-law of the Ridvaz, Rabbi of Slutsk. He was regarded as exceptionally great by his teacher R. Chaim Soloveitchik, Rabbi of Brisk. He was the father-in-law of R. Yechezkel Abramsky, author of Chazon Yechezkel on the Tosefta.
[1] double leaf. 21 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Wear and folding marks. Slight tears to folds.
Lengthy letter (2 pages), handwritten and signed by R. Yerucham Yehudah Leib (Perelman), Rabbi of Minsk, author of Or Gadol. Minsk, 1888.
Sent to R. Avraham Pinchas, Rabbi of Romanova (Lenino). The letter deals with the interpretation of the Tosefta regarding purification and cleansing of vessels, also bringing up textual issues.
The present letter does not appear in the Or Gadol HaShalem edition of the author's works published by Machon Yerushalayim, and has apparently never been printed.
R. Yerucham Yehudah Leib Perelman (1835-1896), known as "the Gadol of Minsk". Disciple of the renowned Torah scholar R. Yaakov Meir Padua. He served as Rabbi of Seltz (Sialiec) and Pruzhany, and as Rabbi of Minsk from 1883 until his passing. His comments on the Mishnah and responsa are published under the title Or Gadol. He was the only one in his generation who earned the title of Gadol, an honor mentioned on his tombstone.
[1] double leaf, written on both sides + the recipient's address on a third page. 20.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, wear and folds. Marginal open tears, slightly affecting text.
Letter on postcard, handwritten and signed by the Aderet – R. Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim, Rabbi of Ponevezh. Ponevezh, [1881].
Sent to his relative R. Chaim Natansohn, Rabbi of Pikeliai. He was apparently involved in printing the novellae of the Aderet in some kind of journal, but the Aderet writes that he doubts whether his novellae would be acceptable to the editors, due to their terseness and the difficulty for those unfamiliar with his style to understand them.
R. Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim – the Aderet (1845-1905), was the Rabbi of Ponevezh, Mir and Jerusalem. He was renowned from his childhood for his love of Torah and diligent Torah study, for his righteousness and refined character traits. A brilliant Torah scholar, he left behind more than 100 manuscript works, most of which were never printed. His son-in-law was R. Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, Chief Rabbi of Eretz Israel.
Postcard, 9X12.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Dark stains and wear.
Letter of approbation handwritten and signed by R. Yaakov David (Wilovsky), Rabbi of Slutsk. Warsaw, Chanukah 1897.
Approbation to the publication of the works of the son of the Rebbe of Radzymin, R. Aharon Menachem Mendel Guterman. The Ridvaz praises him highly and recommends the public dissemination of his works.
The Ridvaz – R. Yaakov David Wilovsky (1845-1913), was a prominent Torah scholar renowned since his youth as a leading Torah scholar in his generation. He served as rabbi in several locations, including Slutsk, Chicago and Safed. He authored many books, yet his magnum opus remains his comprehensive commentary on the Talmud Yerushalmi, included in most editions of the Yerushalmi. His granddaughter married the chief rabbi of the London Beit Din, R. Yechezkel Abramsky, author of Chazon Yechezkel.
The subject of the letter, Rebbe Aharon Menachem Mendel Guterman (1860-1934), only son of Rebbe Shlomo Yehoshua David of Radzymin, a leading rebbe in Poland. Disciple of Rebbe Avraham Borenstein of Sochatchov and Rebbe Shlomo Zalman Schneersohn of Kopust. Began to serve as rebbe after his father's passing in 1903, and established a yeshiva in Radzymin. Headed the R. Meir Baal HaNes Kollel Polin fund and was involved in the founding of Bnei Brak.
[1] double leaf. 21 cm. Good condition. Stains, wear and folding marks.
Lengthy letter (2 pages) handwritten and signed by R. "Yosef Rosen, Rabbi of Dvinsk", the Rogatchover Gaon. Erev Sukkot, 1920.
Sent to R. Yitzchak Ginsburg, who had sent him a package of food. The Rogatchover thanks him and offers profusive blessings for Sukkot, along with an ingenious pilpul on various topics: the libations of water and wine, the written and oral Torah, sukkah and lulav, repentance and fighting the evil inclination, Eretz Israel, "the city of palms", the aperture of Gehinnom, and other topics.
R. Yosef Rosen (1858-1936), Rabbi of Dvinsk, author of Tzafnat Paneach, known as the Rogatchover (after his birth town Rogatchov-Rahachow), a Chabad-Kopust follower. Studied under R. Yosef Dov Ber Soloveitchik, the Beit HaLevi, alongside the latter's son R. Chaim of Brisk. From 1889, he served as Rabbi of the Chabad Chassidic community in Dvinsk (Daugavpils, Latvia), alongside the city's Rabbi, the Or Sameach. A remarkable figure, he was renowned for his tremendous sharpness, and tales of his genius and diligence abound.
[1] leaf. 11.5X18 cm. Closely written on both sides. Good condition. Small marginal open tear.
Letter handwritten and signed by R. Shemaryahu Yosef Karelitz, "to my dear beloved son R. Avraham Yeshayah and to his wife, my dear daughter-in-law", and a letter (in Yiddish) handwritten by his wife, Rebbetzin Rasha Leah, to their son R. Avraham Yeshayah Karelitz, author of Chazon Ish. Kosava, 22nd Shevat, 1907.
R. Shemaryahu Yosef Karelitz (1852-1916), author of Beit Talmud, served as Rabbi of Kosava, succeeding his father-in-law R. Shaul Katzenelbogen who relocated to serve as Rabbi of Kobryn.
His wife, Rebbetzin Rasha-Leah Karelitz (ca. 1854-1940), known for her piety and modesty and merited seeing all her nine sons and sons-in-law become famed Torah scholars and G-d-fearing individuals, including R. Avraham Yeshayah Karelitz, author of Chazon Ish; R. Meir Karelitz, Rabbi of Lyakhavichy and one of the heads of Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah; and R. Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky, author of Kehilot Yaakov (the Steipler).
This rare letter is from an early period, when the Chazon Ish was about 30 years old, a yet unknown young man. The care and esteem the great father felt towards his son R. Avraham Yeshayah can be discerned between the lines of the letter.
Stamped postcard, 14 cm. Good-fair condition, light creases and stains.
Large assorted collection of over 40 letters of rabbis and rebbes. Poland, Lithuania, Galicia, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Romania and elsewhere. [Ca. first half of 20th century].
The items include:
• Letter of R. Eliezer Yehoshua HaLevi Epstein, Rabbi of Raków (Poland), son of Rebbe Avraham Shlomo of Ozharov. • Letter of R. Yisrael Dov HaLevi Epstein, Rabbi of Ostrava, son of Rebbe Avraham Shlomo of Ozharov. • Letter of R. Tzvi Hirsch HaLevi Epstein, son of Rebbe Reuven Epstein of Ozharov.
• Letter of Rebbe Shmuel Yosefov, Rabbi of Botoșani (son-in-law of Rebbe Meshulam Zusha of Mezhibuzh). • Letter of Rebbe Yosef Wertheim of Bender, Rabbi of Hrubieszów (Lublin province). • Letter of R. Asher Yeshayah Rabin, Rabbi of Radekhiv. • Letter of R. Chaim Dov Gross, dean of Munkacs yeshiva. • Letter of R. Chaim Pinchas Derbaremdiker, Rabbi of Vashkivtsi.
• Letter of R. Chaim Leib Yudkovsky, posek in Warsaw. • Letter of R. Avraham Binyamin Silberberg, posek in Warsaw. • Letters of R. Yaakov Gesundheit, secretary of the Rabbinical Council in Warsaw. • Letter of R. Reuven Yehudah Neufeld, Rabbi of Nowy Dwór, secretary of the Association of Rabbis in Poland. • Kosher certification for poultry, handwritten and signed by R. Moshe Aryeh Guterman, Rabbi of Szmulowizna, Warsaw.
• Two letters of R. Nachum Ash, Rabbi of Częstochowa. • Letter of R. Yosef Yehudah Nebenzahl, Rabbi of Bohorodchany, Galicia. • Letter of R. Eliyahu Rosen of Oświęcim, author of Minchat Eliyahu. • Letter of R. Pinchas Hirschprung, editor of Ohel Torah. Dukla, Galicia. • Lengthy Torah letter by R. Meir HaLevi Landau. Rotterdam, the Netherlands. • Two letters from R. Shmuel Aharon Pardes, editor of HaPardes. Chicago, United States. • Letter of R. Meir Blank, Rabbi of Nadvorna. • Letter of R. Moshe Kohlenberg, Rabbi of Cuciurul Mare (Velykyi Kuchuriv), Bukovina. • Letter of R. Yosef Gelernter, Rabbi of Brussels. • Letter of R. Moshe Avigdor Amiel, Rabbi of Antwerp.
• Two letters of R. Shimon Ze'ev Bengis, Rabbi of Kalvarija, Lithuania. • Letter of R. Isser Weissbord, Rabbi of Darbėnai, Lithuania. • Letter of R. Avraham Moshe Witkind, Rabbi of Butrimonys, Lithuania. • Letter of R. Moshe Shalom Stol, Rabbi of Bauska, Latvia. • Letter of R. Aharon Betzalel Paul, Rabbi of Friedrichstadt (Jaunjelgava, Latvia). • Letter of R. Yitzchak Shlomo Marcus, Rabbi of Smorgon, Lithuania (Smarhon, Belarus). • Letter of R. Mordechai Segal, Rabbi of Vowpa (Grodno region). • Letter of R. Yechiel HaLevi Levin, Rabbi of Lebedeva, Vilna province (Liebiedzieva, Belarus).
• And many more letters from various rabbis.
Over 40 signed letters and additional items. Varying size. Overall good condition. About 30 of them on official stationeries and postcards of rabbis or rabbinical organizations.
![Letter from R. Baruch Dov (Ber) Leibowitz, dean of the Knesset Beit Yitzchak yeshiva in Kamenets. [Kamenets], 12 Cheshvan, 19](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale96/236.jpg "Letter of Blessing and Thanks from Rabbi Baruch Ber Leibowitz – Kamene")
Letter from R. Baruch Dov (Ber) Leibowitz, dean of the Knesset Beit Yitzchak yeshiva in Kamenets. [Kamenets], 12 Cheshvan, 1931. Yiddish.
Letter sent to donors of the yeshiva, the Feigin yeshiva in Philadelphia, USA. R. Baruch Ber showers them with blessings and thanks for their generous support for the yeshiva. He also writes to them that on 6 Cheshvan, the yeshiva commemorated the yahrzeit of Tzirel Chayah daughter of R. Zalman, in accordance with the yeshiva's statutes.
Most of the letter is typewritten, and it concludes with seven lines of warm, heartfelt blessings handwritten and signed by the yeshiva dean R. Baruch Ber Leibowitz: "I bless you and wish you, along with your generous and righteous wife, the fulfillment of blessing given in the Torah for Jews who support Torah study, 'Blessed is he who supports', lengthy days and years, wealth and honor, true health, success and blessing. And may you merit to soon see the salvation of Israel and the coming of the Messiah, Amen. Blessing, honoring and esteeming him, Baruch Dov Leibowitz, dean of the holy Beit Yitzchak yeshiva".
R. Baruch Dov (Ber) Leibowitz (1864-1939), author of Birkat Shmuel, leading Torah disseminator in his times. He was a disciple of R. Chaim of Brisk in the Volozhin yeshiva, and the son-in-law of R. Avraham Yitzchak Zimmerman, Rabbi of Hlusk. After his father-in-law went to serve as rabbi of Kremenchuk, he succeeded him in Hlusk and established a yeshiva. After a 13-year tenure, he was asked to head the Knesset Beit Yitzchak yeshiva in Slabodka. During World War I, he wandered with the yeshiva to Minsk, Kremenchuk and Vilna, finally settling in Kamenets. He authored Birkat Shmuel on Talmudic topics. His teachings and writings are classics of in-depth yeshiva study.
[2] leaves, official stationery. 28.5 cm. Good condition. Folds.
Large collection of over 70 congratulatory letters and telegrams sent to R. Bentzion Bruk, a leader of the Novardok yeshiva Musar movement, on the occasion of his marriage in Grīva (Latvia), in winter of 1934.
The authors include: R. Yisrael Yaakov Lubchansky, mashgiach ruchani of the Baranovichy yeshiva (son-in-law of the Alter of Novardok); R. Avraham Tzvi Zalmans, dean of the Beit Yosef yeshiva in Warsaw; R. Yitzchak Waldschein; R. Yisrael Movshovitz; R. Yoel Kleinerman, dean of the Beit Yosef yeshiva in Ostrów Mazowiecka; R. David Blecher, dean of the Beit Yosef yeshiva in Mezeritch; R. Yisrael Levitan, dean of the Beit Yosef yeshiva in Krynki; R. Hillel Witkind, dean of the Beit Yosef yeshiva in Tel Aviv; R. Shlomo Avigdor Rabinowitz, Rabbi of Supraśl; R. Baruch Yaakov Baruchowitz, Rabbi of Rahachow; R. Yisrael Shlomowitz, Rabbi of Goniądz; R. Yosef Kohen, Rabbi of Jonava; and many other students of the large network of Novardok yeshivas (in Bialystok, Mezeritch, Krynki, Ostrów, Lutsk and more), as well as members of other yeshivas (Kamenets, Radin, Mir, Łomża and more); as well as their family members and friends.
75 items, including 65 letters and telegrams signed by the senders. Varying size and condition.
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.