Letter handwritten and signed by R. Eliyahu Levinson, friend and disciple of R. Yisrael of Salant. Kretinga (Northern Lithuania), 1849.
Sent to his friend R. Shmuel Salant and his son R. Binyamin Beinush. Contents of the letter: greetings, wedding congratulations, transfer of funds from Baron Günzburg to Eretz Israel.
R. Eliyahu (Elinke) of Kretinga (1822-1888), learnt in his youth in Salant and was the disciple of R. Yosef Zundel of Salant. In that period, he became the close friend and disciple of two friends who learnt together in Salant and later became world-famous: R. Yisrael of Salant and R. Shmuel Salant. He remained the close disciple of R. Yisrael his whole life, was his close attendant in public activism and a staunch proponent and mentor of the Mussar movement founded by R. Yisrael of Salant. He lived in Kretinga in the Samogitia region, Northern Lithuania. Though he was one of the prominent Torah scholars of his generation, he refused to serve as rabbi and dealt in trade and banking in Courland (Latvia). R. Elinke was a foremost leader of Russian Jewry and a leading lobbyist in the upper echelons of the government. He was an administrator and trustee of the Eretz Israel funds for over forty years.
[1] leaf. 19.5 cm. Approx. 18 handwritten lines. Thin, blueish stationery. Good condition. Stains and folding marks.