Five-page letter, handwritten and personally signed, by Avshalom Feinberg; the first of a number of love letters sent by Avshalom Feinberg to Rivka Aaronsohn. [Hadera], March 1, 1911. Hebrew.
This letter was written over the course of an entire night, piece by piece, and it is five pages long. The beginning of each new part is marked by a small asterisk. Each part is written at a different time of night, and covers a separate topic.
The first part was written at 9:30 pm:
"You are sitting in the dining room, and under the quiet light of the lamp that brings out the gold in your hair, you are reading something. The two little snakes that squirm down your temple hang quietly and peacefully, your forehead is lowered, and your eyes absorb…".
In the second part, Avshalom describes his own state of being at the time of the writing:
"I. Night. In the room where you slept, you and your sister, the only time you were here. Here I am, more than alone…".
In the third part, Avshalom recalls experiencing something of a nighttime vision:
"Scenes flash before my eyes. I see before my eyes a theater filled to capacity… I already hear the prelude of violins, shhhhh, and there, in just a moment I’ll be seeing the faces of the singers."
The fourth part is the longest and most temperamental part of the letter:
"Behold in my left hand I am caressing my pistol, and had I so desired, within less than a minute I could put a bullet in my temple… and as Lada our female dog would have entered the room and [begun] whining over the blood… once I had begun to lose consciousness, at that very moment Tzila would be sitting in her room, diligently and calmy doing her homework. My friend Jacques would be praying in front of his cross, then lying down to sleep peacefully. Masha would be moving her fingers over the strings of her violin, playing continuously. You would keep reading your book, about some character in a novel."
The final part of the letter was written at 3:00 am:
"Forgive me, my dear Rivka, for all the evil in these pages. For all the ugliness and all the nonsense. It is for this [reason] that ‘wise’ people call me – mad…"
At the end of the letter, Avshalom sends his regards to Rivka’s sister, Sarah Aaronsohn (famous for her heroic role in the Nili underground movement): "When Sarah returns from Haifa, Yes! It wouldn’t hurt you to hug her just a bit more closely to your chest?" And signed: "Avshalom".
Also enclosed, a postal envelope addressed to "The young ladies Sarah and Rivka Aaronsohn, Zikhron Ya’akov"; and on the back, the return address: "A. Feinberg, Hadera".

[5] handwritten pages (two separate sheets, each folded in half). Approx. 22 cm. Good condition. Bluish paper. Minor stains and creases. Fold lines. Minor blemishes to edges and to lengths of fold lines.