Auction 98 Early Printed Books, Chassidut and Kabbalah, Books Printed in Jerusalem, Letters and Manuscripts, Jewish Ceremonial Art
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Diverse collection of over thirty letters and certificates signed by various rabbis: recommendations, certificates, and various forms and documents. Eastern Europe and Palestine, ca. 1930s-1940s. Some on official stationery with official stamps. Some letters include draft responses, stamps, and notes by the recipient rabbis (including R. Moshe Avigdor Amiel, Rabbi of Tel Aviv).
Most letters relate to requests for immigration certificates to Palestine and recommendations for immigrants. Some were written in 1940 when Jews from occupied Europe attempted to escape the Holocaust and flee to Mandatory Palestine.
Included in the lot:
• Letter from R. Baruch Mordechai HaCohen Rappoport (grandson of the "Beit Shmuel" of Slonim) to R. Moshe Avigdor Amiel, Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv – obtaining immigration certificates for himself and his father R. Avraham Abele HaCohen Rappoport, Av Beit Din of Kielce (son-in-law of the Rebbe of Slonim, author of "Beit Shmuel"), who fled destitute to Vilna in independent Lithuania after the Nazi occupation of Poland. Vilna, Adar 1940.
• Letter from R. Yitzchak Rubinstein, rabbi of the "Mizrachi" community in Vilna. Vilna, Shevat 1940. Draft response by R. Amiel in the margin.
• Letter from R. Eliezer Liebschitz, Av Beit Din of Zduńska Wola, [1930].
• Letter of recommendation from R. Chaim Menachem Mendel HaLevi Kastenberg, Rabbi of Radom. Radom, 1933.
• Letter from R. Chaim Baruch HaCohen Gerstein, Av Beit Din of Siemiatycze – recommendation for a meat wholesaler from his town who immigrated to Eretz Israel. Siemiatycze, 1935.
• Letter of recommendation for a mohel from R. Shabtai son of R. Ozer Alpert, Av Beit Din of Polanka. Polanka, 1935.
• Letter from R. Leibush Rosenberg, chairman of the "Rabbinical Committee" in Lodz. Lodz, 1935.
• Letter of recommendation regarding kashrut from the "Council of Rabbis of Warsaw", signed by committee member R. Yitzchak Meir Kanal and secretary R. Yaakov Gesundheit. Warsaw, Cheshvan 1932.
• Letter of recommendation regarding kashrut from R. Simcha Treistman, member of the "Council of Rabbis" in Lodz. Lodz, 1935.
• Letter of recommendation regarding kashrut from R. Azriel Zelig Rosenstein, member of the "Council of Rabbis" in Lodz. Lodz, 1935.
•Three letters of recommendation from leaders of the Koźminek community (Kalisz district, Poland), 1935.
• Employment confirmation for the rabbi of "Beit HaMidrash VeHaTefillah of the Piltz Chassidim" in Częstochowa. Częstochowa, 1935.
• Employment confirmation for R. Hillel Gantzarski as rabbi in Lodz. Lodz, 1935.
• Employment confirmation for R. Moshe Binyamin Lehman as rabbi of the "Chevra Kadisha" Beit Midrash in Radomsko. Radomsko, 1935.
• Employment confirmation for R. Mordechai Tregetz as gabbai and Chazan in Kłodawa. Kłodawa, Poland, 1935.
• Certificate confirming R. Yechiel Srualov as rabbi of the "Nachalat Yaakov" synagogue in the Nachalat Shiva neighborhood in Jerusalem. Jerusalem, 1934.
• Employment contract for R. Chaim Pesachowitz as rabbi of the Beit Midrash of the "Torah VaDa'at" organization in Jerusalem. Jerusalem, 1932.
• Confirmation from R. Asher Sandomierski, director of "Or Zoreach" Yeshiva in Jaffa, that the bachur Nechemia Fishman from Lublin was accepted to the yeshiva. Tel Aviv, 1936.
• Confirmation from R. Shmuel Weingurt, member of the Chassidic Beit Din in Jerusalem, that Shlomo Friedfeldstein studied for several years in his yeshiva in Plauen, Germany. Jerusalem, Kislev 1938.
• Letter from R. Moshe Moschil Hirschhorn, shochet, chazan, and mohel in Zagórz, to Dr. Yosef Pomork of Tel Aviv concerning the obtaining of an immigration certificate to Eretz Israel. Zagórz, Galicia, 1936.
• Additional letters, approvals, and various certificates.
31 letters and documents. Size and condition vary.
PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.
Eight letters handwritten and signed by rabbis and directors of the Beit Yosef yeshiva in Novardok during the Holocaust, addressed to R. Eliezer Bentzion Bruk, dean of the Beit Yosef Novardok yeshiva in Jerusalem. Vilna, Biržai and Eretz Israel, ca. 1940-1941.
The letters were sent after the yeshiva fled the occupation and partition of Poland by Germany and Russia to Vilna and Biržai in Lithuania which remained free.
Includes letters by yeshiva dean R. Avraham Yoffen, R. Abba Yoffe (brother of R. Avraham Yoffen), R. Yehudah Leib Nekritz (son-in-law of R. Avraham Yoffen), R. Nisan Tzelniker of Babruysk (brother-in-law of R. Bentzion Bruk and a dean of the Novardok yeshiva in Bialystok), R. Nisan Potashinsky (Rozhanker; son-in-law of R. Refael Alter Shmuelevitz and a director of the Beit Yosef Novardok yeshiva in Bialystok), R. Aharon Agulnik (Kamayer; mashgiach of Novardok yeshiva in Ostrów Mazowiecka) and R. Yaakov Zeldin (Mozirer, mashgiach of Beit Yosef yeshiva in Lutsk).
See Hebrew description for a detailed listing of each letter.
Background
At the outbreak of World War I, when Russia annexed eastern Poland, including Bialystok where the Novardok yeshiva headed by R. Avraham Yoffen was located, the yeshiva students who refused to live under the Soviet regime fled to Vilna. When the Russians invaded Lithuania, the yeshiva students again fled to Biržai while attempting to attain visas to countries that were not occupied by the Germans or the Soviets. While R. Avraham Yoffen and a limited number of students managed to attain visas to the United States, the remaining students were offered Soviet citizenship; when they refused, they were deported to labor camps in Siberia (most of those students who were not deported were later murdered by the Nazis).
8 letters (six on postcards). Size and condition vary. Overall good condition. Last letter in fair-poor condition (written on thin paper, with open tears and damage, affecting text).
PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.
Letter (2 pages) handwritten and signed by R. Gershon Liebman, a leader of the Novardok yeshiva movement. [Bergen-Belsen?, ca. 1945-1946].
Addressed to "my dear friend R. Hillel" [R. Hillel Witkind, dean of the Beit Yosef Novardok yeshiva in Tel Aviv]. He also mentions R. Bentzion [Bruk, dean of the Beit Yosef Novardok yeshiva in Jerusalem]. The letter also deals with transmission of information about those killed and those who survived the Holocaust, and he attempts to ascertain what happened to his wife. He also mentions the upcoming Pesach festival.
R. Gershon goes on to mention Torah learners and Novardok yeshiva students exiled in Siberia and Bukhara, and he calls for them to join the yeshiva he established [in Bergen-Belsen], in particular mentioning R. Yisrael [Movshovitz] and R. Yehudah Leib [Nekritz].
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 include over 40 Torah and educational institutions.
[1] leaf, written on both sides. 20.5x17 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains and creases. Asymmetric trimming of bottom of leaf. Filing holes.
PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.
Long autograph letter written on both sides of a postcard, by R. Yitzchak Huberman (later renowned as the Tzaddik of Raanana), during his tenure as rabbi of the Wetzlar DP camp in Germany. Kislev [1947].
Sent to London to R. Yechezkel Abramsky at the time he served as rabbi in London, ardently requesting his halachic rulings on weighty matters pertaining to marriage and agunot among Holocaust survivors.
Postcard, 10.5X15 cm. Good condition. Stains.
PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.
Two long letters from R. Shlomo David Kahana, "Father of the Agunot", rabbi of Warsaw and rabbi of the Old City of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, [ca. 1946].
4 leaves (including some 8 written pages) on R. Kahana's official stationery. Scribal handwriting with R. Kahana's handwritten signatures. The letters deal with matters of releasing agunot and agunim among Holocaust survivors. Both letters were sent to R. Tzvi Hirsch Meisels, Rabbi of Vác (author of Responsa "Mekadshei HaShem"), who served after the Holocaust as rabbi of the Bergen-Belsen DP camp and Chief Rabbi of the British Occupation Zone in Germany. R. Meisels was responsible on behalf of the London rabbinate for supervising and ruling on matters of marriage and agunot (see his book "Binyan Tzvi", various correspondences on these topics with R. Abramsky, Av Beit Din of London, and various rabbis worldwide).
Most of the first letter deals with Torah matters regarding the laws of agunot. On the fourth page, R. Kahana writes about the worldwide efforts to release agunot from the Holocaust. He on his work on the issue of agunot in Poland and in Palestine, and expresses his opinion that each individual case of an agunah should be judged by a Beit Din on its own merits, and it is not appropriate to delay the matter and wait for a general ruling from the great rabbis of the generation on that particular issue.
In the second letter, dated Purim 1946, R. Kahana writes on the release of agunim (whose wives disappeared in the Holocaust). He asks R. Meisels to prepare an infrastructure for investigations that will assist in releasing the many agunot and agunim among Holocaust survivors.
R. Shlomo David Kahana, "Father of the Agunot" (1869-Kislev 1954), was among the rabbis of Warsaw, son-in-law and successor of R. Shmuel Zanvil Klepfish, one of the chief rabbis in Warsaw. After World War I, he was appointed by the Chief Rabbinate of Warsaw to oversee the complex issue of agunot. In this capacity, he worked tirelessly to release from their agunah status tens of thousands of women whose husbands, as soldiers in he war, were reported as missing in action and whose fates remained unknown. With the outbreak of World War II and the many casualties in Polish cities from enemy air raids (even before the mass extermination by the Nazis), R. Kahana foresaw what was coming and began preparing for the release of war agunot.
He later managed to escape to Palestine and was appointed rabbi of the Old City of Jerusalem. During that period, he established in Jerusalem the "Office for Agunot Affairs" on behalf of the "Union of Rabbis from Poland" in Eretz Israel. Some of his many responsa were recently published in his book "Nechmat Shlomo" (published by Machon Yerushalayim, Jerusalem, 2022).
[4] leaves (some 8 written pages). Approx. 28 cm. Fair condition. Stains and wear. Folding marks. Tears along fold lines, affecting text.
PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the 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 vols. Approx. 39 cm. Bristle paper in some of the volumes. Good to good-fair condition. Stains. Tears, including tears along title pages of tractates Gittin and kiddushin, affecting illustrations on title page. Title page of tractate Rosh HaShana missing. Creases. Original bindings. Blemishes to bindings, tears to spine, restored with tape and cloth.
PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.
Beit din authorizations and testimony forms, by Kiev and Minsk rabbis. 1883-1884.
• Handwritten leaf, authorization signed and stamped by R. Shemarya Luria, regarding the death of R. Chaim son of R. Menachem Nachum Meisel, in a hospital in Kiev in the month of Tamuz 1883. Kiev, 9 Tevet 1884. In the margins is an authorization of receiving testimony of R. Shemarya, supervisor of the Jewish patients of the hospital, signed by the city rabbis, R. Aharon Zeev Wolf Weil and R. Menachem Mendel of Kiev. Kiev, 9 Tevet 1884.
On the verso is an authorization of the Slutsk beit din, identifying the handwriting and signature of R. Aharon Zeev Wolf, Rabbi of Kiev, signed by the following dayanim: R. "Yosef Zundel of Salant" [a dayan in Slutsk during the time of the Beit HaLevi and R. Meir Feimer; apparently, a relative of the tzaddik R. Yosef Zundel of Salant; died in Jerusalem in 1861]; R. David son of R. Shaul Segal and R. Yosef Aharon son of R. Hillel HaKohen Gershenowitz. Slutsk, 15 Shevat 1884.
• Letter handwritten and signed by R. Aharon Zeev Wolf Weil, Rabbi of Kiev, to "R. Meir" [apparently, R. Meir Feimer, Rabbi of Slutsk], with a repeated testimony on the same matter. On the verso is a testimony by R. Shemarya son of R. Menachem Nachum Luria of Mohilev, supervisor of the local hospital, regarding the illness and death of R. Chaim Meisel of Romaniv, in the hospital in Kiev, on Rosh Chodesh Tamuz 1883. Signed by the dayanim: R. Aharon Zeev Wolf, R. Meir Yaakov son of Yitzchak Zvi HaKohen and R. Avraham son of Moshe. Kiev, 15 Shevat 1884.
[2] leaves, approx. 21 cm. Written on both sides. Good to fair-good condition. Stains,
tears and folding marks.
PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.
Collection of over 30 letters sent to R. Chaim Berlin, Rabbi of Moscow, Kobryn, Yelisavetgrad and Jerusalem, from rabbis, Torah scholars, tzedakah collectors and donors throughout the world. Russia, England, United States and other countries, [1880s-1890s to 1900s-1910s].
The collection includes several letters on Torah matters, and responsa on halachic and public issues. Most of the letters are from his tenure as president of the Vaad HaKlali in Jerusalem [ca. 1900s-1910s] and relate to public affairs and fundraising for Eretz Israel.
See Hebrew description for a partial list of authors of the letters.
R. Chaim Berlin (1832-1912), foremost Torah scholar in his generation and an illustrious figure in Lithuania and Jerusalem. Eldest son of the Netziv of Volozhin, he served as Chief Rabbi of Moscow, yeshiva dean and Rabbi of Volozhin, Kobryn and Yelisavetgrad. When he immigrated to Jerusalem in 1906, he was swiftly recognized as one of the leading rabbis of the city.
Approx. 70 paper items, most documents signed. Size and condition vary.
PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.
Huge collection of over 220 letters from rabbis, tzedakah collectors and philanthropists from all over the world: United States, Europe, South Africa, and various other countries. [Ca. 1890s-1900s].
The letters were sent to R. Shmuel Salant, Rabbi of Jerusalem. Some are also addressed to the other rabbis who assisted him in administering the city's tzedakah funds: R. Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim (the Aderet); R. Yitzchak Blazer of St. Petersburg; R. Chaim Berlin of Moscow; and other rabbis and tzedakah collectors from the Vaad HaKlali and other institutions in the city.
R. Shmuel Salant (1816-1909), immigrated from Salant to Eretz Israel in 1841 to serve as posek and rabbi of the Perushim community of disciples of the Vilna Gaon in Jerusalem. His father-in-law R. Yosef Zundel Salant immigrated to Jerusalem in the same period. In his capacity as rabbi of Jerusalem, a position he held for close to seventy years, he founded the educational and charitable institutions in the city, established the Beit Din and strengthened the Ashkenazi community. He was renowned for his brilliance and pragmatic approach to halachic ruling and in running communal matters in Jerusalem and worldwide.
Over 220 letters. Size and condition vary.
PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.
Large assorted collection of over a hundred letters addressed to the philanthropist R. Binyamin (Wilhelm) Posen of Frankfurt am Main and his family, from rebbes, dayanim and Torah scholars, authors of books and printers, friends and relatives. Jerusalem, Prague, Vienna, Frankfurt, Germany, Lithuania, Italy, England, New York and elsewhere, [ca. 1880s-1920s]. Hebrew and German.
The authors include R. Chanoch Henich Ersohn of Zgierz (author of Gan Raveh and publisher of Chanukat HaTorah); R. Meir Wolf Roth [a disciple of the Divrei Chaim of Sanz, the Ktav Sofer and R. Hillel Lichtenstein]; R. Chaim Hirschensohn (publisher of Or Zarua alongside R. Binyamin Posen); R. Avraham Bik of Jerusalem and Pressburg, and many others (see Hebrew description for more names).
The philanthropist R. Binyamin (Wilhelm) son of R. Shimon Yekutiel Posen (1859-1923) was a disciple of R. Shimshon Refael Hirsch and a pillar of the Frankfurt am Main Jewish community. He was involved in the publication and printing of Parts III-IV of Or Zarua (Jerusalem, 1887-1890). A well-known bibliophile, many of the letters in the present collection deal with purchase of books and assistance in publication of manuscripts. He was a communal worker known for his charity and hospitality.
Over 100 letters, most on postcards (undivided). Varying size and condition; most in overall good condition.
PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.
Manuscript (4 pages), sermon and letter handwritten by the Ridvaz – R. Yaakov David (Wilovsky), Rabbi of Slutsk. [Slutsk, ca. 1890s].
Sermon on the haftarah of Nitzavim ("Sos Asis"). At the end of the sermon is a letter to his son-in-law R. Yisrael Yehonatan Yerushalimsky [who was appointed Rabbi of Orlya at the time], signing "your father Ridvaz".
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.
The recipient of the letter, 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.
Double leaf, 4 pages. 21 cm. Good condition. Stains. Folding marks and minor tears.
PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.
Kuntres Halachah LeMaaseh, on shemitah produce, letters sent to the rabbis of Jerusalem, by R. Yaakov David (Wilovsky), Rabbi of Slutsk and Safed. Jerusalem, shemitah year [1910].
On endpaper, lengthy dedication by the author to R. Shlomo Mannes, Rabbi of Schwabach, requesting him to assist the Torah students in the Safed yeshiva. The Ridvaz recounts his efforts to promote the shemitah in the previous year (1910), opposing the settlers who desecrated the holiness of the Land. He recounts that those who did not observe shemitah the previous year were punished with low quality produce and impoverished. He stresses the importance of Torah study in Eretz Israel, without which "the Land of Israel would become the Land of Canaan, exactly like the cities of France…".
The letter appears to be In the handwriting of the Ridvaz, but the signature Is In his stamps (one stamped signature and another official stamp in Hebrew and Latin letters).
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.
In the shemitah year of 1910, the Ridvaz fought to strengthen the observation of shemitah in Eretz Israel, but his efforts were not well received by the mostly secular Second Aliyah, and were actively opposed by the French representatives of Barons Rothschild and Hirsch.
[2], 7 leaves. Approx. 22.5 cm. Very brittle and dry paper. Fair-poor condition. Marginal open tears. All leaves and binding detached and placed in a nylon folder.
PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.