Large handwritten leaf – certificate appointing Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum as Gaavad (chief rabbi) of the Edah HaChareidit in Jerusalem, in place of R. Bengis, with the signatures of 64 Jerusalem rabbis, including yeshiva deans and rebbes, poskim and community leaders. At the foot of the leaf, letter handwritten and signed by R. Pinchas Epstein, Raavad (head of the Beit Din) of the Edah HaCharedit. Jerusalem, Sivan 1953.
Calligraphic square script, set in a colored, ornamental border. Some words emphasized in copper and gold. Enlarged heading at the top of the leaf: "Keter Torah" with verses of blessings. The rebbe's name is also scribed in enlarged letters, in gold and red.
The present certificate of appointment is signed by the Torah leaders of Jerusalem: yeshiva deans, rebbes, Torah scholars and rabbis of Jerusalem, and prominent leaders of Orthodox Jewry, including: R. Isser Zalman Meltzer (dean of the Etz Chaim yeshiva, his signature appears on the right-hand corner); R. Mordechai David Levin (author of Darchei David); R. Yisrael Grossman; R. Menachem Mendel Gafner (Ben Dinah); R. Yisrael Taussig (rabbi of Mattersdorf); R. Mordechai Chaim Slonim (rebbe of Slonim); R. Yitzchak HaLevi Reisman (dayan of the Edah HaChareidit); R. Moshe Aryeh Freund (later Gaavad of the Edah HaChareidit); R. Yehuda Horowitz (rebbe of Dzikov); R. David HaLevi Jungreis (dayan of the Edah HaChareidit); R. Yisrael Moshe Dushinsky (later Gaavad of the Edah HaChareidit); R. Shalom HaLevi Eisen; R. Avraham Yitzchak Kohn (rebbe of Toldot Aharon); R. Chanoch Dov Padwa (leading posek in Jerusalem, later a rabbi in London); R. Eliyahu Zlotnik (dayan of the Edah HaChareidit); R. Nata Freund; R. Shlomo Zalman Brizel; R. Avraham Mordechai Breitstein; R. Yosef Sheinberger; R. Eliyahu Tzvi Kroizer; R. David Sokolowsky; and others.
Heading the list of signees are the heads of the communal council, including: R. Eliyahu Nachum Porush Glickman; R. Amram Blau (head of Neturei Karta); R. Yonah Yitzchak Lefkowitz (head of Kollel Shomrei HaChomot); R. Baruch Grünfeld; R. Yonah Ze'ev Zwebner; R. Avraham Yochanan Blumenthal; R. Yeshaya Sheinberger; R. Avraham Kohen Roth; R. Yaakov Meir Schechter; and others.
At the foot of the leaf, there is an interesting letter handwritten and signed by R. Epstein, who served in practice as head of the Edah HaChareidit Beit Din in Jerusalem. R. Epstein confirms that he "authorizes and approves all the above wholeheartedly", bestows upon the rebbe of Satmar the official position of rabbi of the Edah HaChareidit, and blesses him upon his appointment.
Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar (1887-1979), one of the greatest leaders of his generation, president of the Eda HaCharedit and leader of American Orthodox Jewry, one of the founding pillars of Chassidic Jewry after the Holocaust. Born in Sighet (Sighetu Marmației), he was the son of Rebbe Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the Kedushat Yom Tov, and grandson of Rebbe Yekutiel Yehuda, the Yitav Lev, who both served as rabbis of Sighet and were leaders of Chassidic Jewry in the Maramureș region. He was renowned from his youth for his perspicacity and intellectual capacities, as well as for his holiness and outstanding purity. After marrying the daughter of Rebbe Avraham Chaim Horowitz of Polaniec, he settled in Satmar (Satu Mare) and taught Torah and Chassidut to an elite group of disciples and followers. He served as rabbi of Irshava, Karoly (Carei, from 1925) and Satmar (from 1934), managing in each of these places a large yeshiva and Chassidic court. He stood at the helm of faithful, uncompromising Orthodox Jewry in the Maramureș region. During the Holocaust, he was rescued by the Kastner Train, and after a journey through Bergen-Belsen and Eretz Israel, he reached the United States, where he established the largest Chassidic group in the world – Satmar Chassidut, until today the dominant faction in American Orthodox Jewry.
In 1951, he was appointed president of the Edah HaChareidit in Jerusalem. In 1953, after the passing of the elderly R. Bengis, the rebbe of Satmar was appointed in his place as "rabbi of all the Ashkenazi Communities – the Edah HaChareidit in Jerusalem". The rebbe was appointed to this position even though he lived in the United States, and in Jerusalem, R. Pinchas Epstein was appointed as head of the Beit Din. (To this day, the leadership of the Edah HaChareidit is split into two positions – Gaavad and the Raavad. For example, after the passing of R. Epstein and R. David Jungreis, R. Yitzchak Yaakov Weiss, author of Minchat Yitzchak, was appointed as Raavad of the Eda HaCharedit. After the passing of the rebbe of Satmar, he was succeeded him as Gaavad of the Edah HaChareidit).
Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum was a leading opponent of Zionism and of the founding of the State of Israel, and zealously led crucial battles for the preservation of the unique character of the Jewish people and its holiness, fearful for the honor of the Torah and the future of faithful Jewry. He was renowned as an exceptionally charitable person; his door was open to the poor and his ear attentive to the needy from every stream of the Jewish people. An outstanding Torah scholar, he responded to many halachic queries, and his writings were published in dozens of books: VaYoel Moshe, Responsa Divrei Yoel, Divrei Yoel on the Torah and more.
[1] large leaf. 70X40 cm. Thick Bristol board. Good-fair condition. Stains. Creases. Marginal tears (repaired).