Two letters from Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, regarding the decrees in Germany against Jewish slaughter. Vilna, 16 Cheshvan / 6 Tevet 1936.

The first letter is entirely in Rabbi Chaim Ozer's handwriting and signature, and the second is in his scribe's handwriting with R. Chaim Ozer's signature.
Sent to London to R. Yechezkel Abramsky, one of London's rabbis and one of his close associates (from the time of Rabbi Yechezkel's studies at the Ramailles Yeshiva in Vilna, and from his tenure as rabbi of Slutsk).
The letters deal with the question of electrical stunning of animals before slaughter (which renders the animal non-kosher according to Jewish law), following anti-Semitic laws enacted in European countries – Germany, Sweden and Poland, as part of the campaign by animal welfare organizations against Jewish slaughter.
In the first letter, R. Chaim Ozer writes about his letters to Rabbi Ezra Munk, "to prohibit slaughter by stunning first", in which he wrote to him several times "clear and explicit words" to prohibit the matter. He then relates that last year "the rabbis R. Y. Weinberg and R. Klein came to me from Berlin about this, and we discussed it at length, and I then decided that it is appropriate to consult with several great scholars. Meanwhile, the proposal of the slaughter decree in Poland arose, and nearly nine hundred rabbis informed the government of their opinion prohibiting stunning, and this is well-known".
R. Chaim Ozer writes to R. Abramsky that he "fully agrees with Your Honor that it is appropriate to declare the prohibition again of stunning before slaughter in Germany". He continues that he is enclosing "a copy of what I received from there" [=from Germany], adding: "The main thing is to send them help and provide them with kosher meat from..."

In the second letter, R. Chaim Ozer asks him to act against R. Ehrenpreis from Stockholm (Sweden), who is trying to permit electrical stunning before slaughter, in his letter to the Chief Rabbi of England, Rabbi Dr. Joseph Hertz. R. Chaim Ozer writes to him: "Nevertheless, I found it appropriate to ask Your Honor to speak with him to try to influence Rabbi Dr. Ehrenpreis and his colleagues to withdraw from this, and I hope that the words of Rabbi Dr. Hertz will be heard by them."
He then tells R. Abramsky about a new proposal to perform electrical stunning immediately after slaughter: "...I received a letter from Rabbi Israel Zuber… of Stockholm, informing that there is hope to work with the Ministry to agree to perform stunning by electricity immediately after slaughter… and I replied that if they perform the stunning after slaughter… it is certainly permissible, and they should try to obtain government approval for this..."

Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski (1863-1940) was the greatest of his generation and the rabbi of all diaspora Jews. Son of R. David Shlomo Grodzinski, rabbi of Ivye. Known from childhood for his extraordinary genius. At age 11, he entered the Volozhin Yeshiva and was a student of rabbi Chaim of Brisk. At 24, he was appointed rabbi and posek in Vilna, taking the place of his father-in-law Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Grodnenski, posek in Vilna (son-in-law of Rabbi Yisrael of Salant). From a young age, rabbi Chaim Ozer bore the burden of public affairs, and his opinion was decisive for nearly fifty years in all public questions that arose throughout the Jewish diaspora.

The recipient of the letter, R. Yechezkel Abramsky (1886-1976), was one of R. Chaim Ozer's trusted associates and agents. From the time of his youth studying under R. Chaim Ozer in Vilna, he became close to him in faithful friendship. In the winter of 1906, "the prodigy from Mosty" Yechezkel Abramsky was forced to leave the Telz Yeshiva and flee to Vilna (which was then under Polish rule), for fear of conscription into the Russian army.
Upon arriving in Vilna, he was accepted to the Ramailes Yeshiva, and was also accepted to the select group of exceptional scholars who heard scholarly lectures from R. Chaim Ozer (according to Melech BeYofyo, pp. 29-33).
Later, when he served as rabbi of Smilovichi and Slutsk, he worked extensively on behalf of R. Chaim Ozer in various public affairs. R. Abramsky smuggled the manuscript of the first part of his book "Chazon Yechezkel" from Slutsk to Vilna, to R. Chaim Ozer who arranged for its printing in Vilna in 1925, through his trusted associate R. Aharon Dov Alter Waranowski (a cousin of Rabbi Abramsky's wife).
When R. Abramsky was arrested by the Soviet authorities in 1930 and sent to Siberia, R. Chaim Ozer stirred up the Jewish world in efforts to free him. After R. Abramsky's release in early 1932, R. Chaim Ozer established together with him and the Rebbe Rayatz of Lubavitch, the project of sending "Kimcha D'Pischa" and food shipments to Jews suffering under Bolshevik rule in Russia. R.Abramsky also worked extensively on behalf of R. Chaim Ozer for the holy yeshivas in Poland and Lithuania, and for the rabbis of Europe.
This present letter reflects some of their joint activities on these issues. They also worked together on many public matters, including the struggle for the purity of Jewish lineage and marriage, and the fight against anti-Semitic decrees in Germany and European countries against "Jewish slaughter" (on the question of stunning animals before slaughter, which renders the meat non-kosher). These letters reflect some of their joint activities on these issues.

2 letters. Official stationery. Approx. 28.5 cm. Good condition. Folding marks and minor stains. Minor tears to margins.

The first letter presented here was printed in "Kovetz Igrot – Achiezer", Part 2, Letter 226, pp. 367-368.

PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.

Lengthy letter (17 lines) handwritten and signed by R. Baruch Dov (Ber) Leibowitz, dean of the Kamenets yeshiva. [Kamenets?], 4th Adar 1939.

A request for assistance to the kollel in the Kamenets yeshiva, which was established at that time. Sent to his relative R. Yechezkel Abramsky, head of the London Beit Din (their wives were cousins).
The letter tells of the establishment of the kollel a year earlier, and of the need to expand the number of students. He signs: "his wife's relative, Baruch Dov Leibowitz, dean of the 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, before finally settling in Kamenets. He authored Birkat Shmuel on Talmudic topics. His teachings and writings are classics of in-depth yeshiva study.

[1] leaf, official stationery. 28 cm. Good condition. Stains. Folding marks. Small marginal tears.

The present letter was published in Yeshurun, XXI, 2009, Yechi Reuven, pp. 396-397.

PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.

Lengthy letter (about one and a half pages) on Torah matters, handwritten and signed by R. Reuven Grozovsky, a dean of the Kamenets yeshiva in Poland and a leading yeshiva dean in the United States. Brooklyn, Nisan 1948.

Sent to his relative R. Yechezkel Abramsky, head of the London Beit Din, thanking him for his Chazon Yechezkel on Tractate Bava Kama. Most of the letter relates to one of the topics discussed in Chazon Yechezkel.

R. Reuven Grozovsky (1886-1958), son of R. Shimshon Grozovsky, rabbi in Minsk and eminent son-in-law of R. Baruch Ber Leibowitz, dean of the Kamenets yeshiva. In his youth he was one of the foremost disciples of the Alter of Slabodka. An outstanding Torah scholar, leading yeshiva dean in Lithuania and in the United States. Assisted his illustrious father-in-law in managing the Kamenets yeshiva. During the Holocaust, he escaped to the United States, headed Beis Medrash Elyon of the Torah Vodaath yeshiva and was one of the heads of Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah in the United States. Known for his articles sharply opposing nationalism and Zionism, printed in Beayot HaZman. His profound discourses were printed in the four-part Chidushei Rabbi Reuven and in other books featuring his Torah teachings. We could not determine whether the contents of the present letter have already been printed, but his Chidushei Rabbi Reuven (Bava Kama section 2) addresses the same topic.

2 leaves, official stationery. 28 cm. Good condition. Stains and folding marks.

PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.

Large collection of over 60 letters of R. Tzvi Hirsch Ferber, sent to him by rabbis of England and their families, and letters sent by him to Torah institutions in Jerusalem. Ca. 1900s-1950s.

The collection includes letters by rabbis of England on public and private affairs, and correspondences about Torah and rabbinic offices.
Rabbis of England who authored letters include: R. Meir Tzvi Jung, London (7 letters); R. Avigdor Schonfeld, Rabbi of Adat Yisrael, London; R. Shmuel Yitzchak Hillman, Glasgow and London (10 letters, ca. 1910s; includes one letter on the Beilis Affair); R. Yitzchak Eizik HaLevi Herzog, Dublin (3 letters); R. Benjamin Benish Atlas, Glasgow (2 letters); R. Isser Yehudah Unterman, Liverpool; R. Yehudah Leib Astrinsky, Leeds (4 letters); R. Menachem Dov Dagotzky, Manchester; R. Pinchas HaLevi Weizman, Manchester; R. Shmaryahu Yitzchak Bloch, London (2 letters); R. Ze'ev Weinberg, Oxford; R. Yaakov Schechter, Belfast; R. Yaakov Tessler, Leeds; R. Betzalel Deiches, Edinburgh; R. Pinchas Yaakov Gerber, London; and others.
The collection also includes letters from: R. Avraham Frankel, head of the Orthodox Bureau in Budapest, 1924; R. Yitzchak Yehudah Sapir (of Lithuania and Petach Tikva), Tel Aviv, ca. 1930s; two letters from his brother-in-law R. Yosef Shereshevsky of Jerusalem; 17 letters written by R. Tzvi Hirsch Ferber to Torah institutions in Jerusalem, London, ca. 1930s-1950s.

R. Tzvi Hirsch Ferber (1879-1966), 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 some years later moved to serve as rabbi in west London.

62 letters. Size and condition vary. Some on postcards and official stationery.

PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.

Collection of more than 40 certificates, authorizations and rabbinical letters from various places around the world, dealing with matters pertaining to kiddushin, gittin and other topics. Europe, US and Eretz Israel, from the 1910s to the 1950s.

Most of the letters were sent to the Chief Rabbinate of Jaffa and Tel Aviv. Some are written on official stationery. Many bear official stamps of the Eretz Israel rabbinate and various inscriptions of rabbis in Eretz Israel who received the letters, primarily inscriptions in the handwriting of R. Ben-Zion Hai Uziel who served at that time as Chief Rabbi of Jaffa and Tel Aviv.

Letters signed by rabbis abroad:
R. Moshe Shimon Sivitz, Rabbi of Pittsburg, USA; R. David Fayans, Rabbi of Bialystok; R. Yechiel HaLevi Kestenberg Rabbi of Radom; R. Moshe Kohlenberg Rabbi of Metz; R. Moshe Chaim Mirvish, Rabbi of Cape Town; R. Yaakov Silverstein, Rabbi of the Praga quarter of Warsaw and member of the Vaad HaRabbanim of the Warsaw community; R. Yisrael Shlomo Rozenson rabbi in Kaunas; R. Yosef Yehuda Nebenzahl, Rabbi of Brodshin; R. Yehuda HaKohen Rubin, rabbi in Paris; R. Yaakov Freimann, Rabbi of Berlin; R. Avraham Yitzchak Faivelson, a founder and manager of Vaad HaRabbanim in New York; R. Elimelech Kovalenko, Rabbi of the Sefard Anshei Ostropoli Synagogue in Brooklyn; R. Zvi Hirsh Mendelson, Rabbi of Vizhnitz and posek of the Praga quarter of Warsaw; R. Shimon Yaakov HaLevi Gliksberg, Rabbi of Odessa; R. Shmuel Yom Tov HaLevi Brot, Rabbi of Antwerp; R. Yaakov Meir Segalowitz, Rabbi of Brussels; and others.
Letters with signatures by Eretz Israel rabbis:
Rishon LeZion R. Yaakov Meir; the chief rabbis of Haifa, R. Baruch Markus, R. Eliyahu Reine and R. Yehoshua Kaniel; Chief Rabbis of Tel Aviv and Jaffa, R. Shlomo HaKohen Aharonson, R. Moshe Avigdor Amiel and R. Ben Zion Hai Uziel; R. Avraham Werner, Rabbi of Netanya; R. Aharon Weinstein, dean of the Beit Yosef Novardok Yeshiva in Tel Aviv; more.

41 letters and authorizations. Size and condition vary. Overall good to fair-good condition.

PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.