Auction 75 - Rare and Important Items
Letter from Rabbi Chaim Ozer – Recommendation for Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld, Descendant of the Chatam Sofer, Who Escaped from Mattersdorf to the United States – Vilna, Cheshvan 1938
Opening: $1,000
Estimate: $2,000 - $3,000
Sold for: $2,000
Including buyer's premium
Long letter (16 lines) handwritten and signed by R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski. Vilna, 17th Cheshvan 1938.
The letter is addressed to "my friends, prominent rabbis, heads of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada". At the beginning of the letter, R. Chaim Ozer requests that they assist R. Shmuel Heilperin, a rabbi of Białystok (grandson of the Oneg Yom Tov and son of R. Chaim Naftali Hertz of Bialystok), who was in dire financial straits and travelled to the United States to raise funds. Further in the letter, R. Chaim Ozer instructs the UOR to assist R. Shmuel Ehrenfeld, rabbi of Matterdorf (Mattersburg), who had fled to the United States after the Nazis invaded Austria: " At the same time, I request on behalf of R. Shmuel Ehrenfeld, rabbi of Mattersdorf, who was compelled to flee to America, and I heard that he is prominent in Torah and fear of G-d, and he is of distinguished lineage, from the family of the Chatam Sofer. It is very fitting to draw him close and to make efforts on his behalf to the extent of your ability to find him a rabbinic position, or any other holy position, and I am convinced that you will do what you can…".
R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski (1863-1940) was a foremost rabbi of his generation and leader of the entire European Jewry. He was the son of R. David Shlomo Grodzinski Rabbi of Iwye. Renowned from his childhood for his exceptional brilliance, he entered the Volozhin yeshiva at the young age of 11, and became a disciple of R. Chaim of Brisk. At the age of 24, he was appointed rabbi and posek in Vilna, in place of his father-in-law R. Eliyahu Eliezer Grodnansky posek in Vilna, son-in-law of R. Yisrael Salanter. He assumed the yoke of public leadership from a young age, and for close to fifty years, his opinion was conclusive on all public matters which arose throughout the Diaspora. Despite his numerous concerns of global communal matters, he was very active on behalf of orphans and widows, fending for all their needs. R. Chaim Ozer once commented about this in his old age: "…in my youth, I thought that the main thing was to produce novellae and author many books. Now I understand that publishing books is like child’s play compared to assisting widows and orphans" (R. Moshe Shmuel Shapiro in his eulogy on the Chazon Ish, HaBe’er, VI, p. 41). R. Chaim Ozer was particularly concerned about the needs of yeshiva students, and of rabbis who escaped from Russia, and he tried to assist them in any way he could. He also took care of rabbis and yeshivot in Eretz Israel, England and other countries. In this letter, we see his concern and his efforts to apply his influence in the United States on behalf of a prominent rabbi (with whom he was not closely acquainted, as it appears from the letter), who immigrated there in his flight from the Nazis.
[1] leaf, official stationery. 28.5 cm. Good condition. Minor stains and folding marks.
The letter is addressed to "my friends, prominent rabbis, heads of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada". At the beginning of the letter, R. Chaim Ozer requests that they assist R. Shmuel Heilperin, a rabbi of Białystok (grandson of the Oneg Yom Tov and son of R. Chaim Naftali Hertz of Bialystok), who was in dire financial straits and travelled to the United States to raise funds. Further in the letter, R. Chaim Ozer instructs the UOR to assist R. Shmuel Ehrenfeld, rabbi of Matterdorf (Mattersburg), who had fled to the United States after the Nazis invaded Austria: " At the same time, I request on behalf of R. Shmuel Ehrenfeld, rabbi of Mattersdorf, who was compelled to flee to America, and I heard that he is prominent in Torah and fear of G-d, and he is of distinguished lineage, from the family of the Chatam Sofer. It is very fitting to draw him close and to make efforts on his behalf to the extent of your ability to find him a rabbinic position, or any other holy position, and I am convinced that you will do what you can…".
R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski (1863-1940) was a foremost rabbi of his generation and leader of the entire European Jewry. He was the son of R. David Shlomo Grodzinski Rabbi of Iwye. Renowned from his childhood for his exceptional brilliance, he entered the Volozhin yeshiva at the young age of 11, and became a disciple of R. Chaim of Brisk. At the age of 24, he was appointed rabbi and posek in Vilna, in place of his father-in-law R. Eliyahu Eliezer Grodnansky posek in Vilna, son-in-law of R. Yisrael Salanter. He assumed the yoke of public leadership from a young age, and for close to fifty years, his opinion was conclusive on all public matters which arose throughout the Diaspora. Despite his numerous concerns of global communal matters, he was very active on behalf of orphans and widows, fending for all their needs. R. Chaim Ozer once commented about this in his old age: "…in my youth, I thought that the main thing was to produce novellae and author many books. Now I understand that publishing books is like child’s play compared to assisting widows and orphans" (R. Moshe Shmuel Shapiro in his eulogy on the Chazon Ish, HaBe’er, VI, p. 41). R. Chaim Ozer was particularly concerned about the needs of yeshiva students, and of rabbis who escaped from Russia, and he tried to assist them in any way he could. He also took care of rabbis and yeshivot in Eretz Israel, England and other countries. In this letter, we see his concern and his efforts to apply his influence in the United States on behalf of a prominent rabbi (with whom he was not closely acquainted, as it appears from the letter), who immigrated there in his flight from the Nazis.
[1] leaf, official stationery. 28.5 cm. Good condition. Minor stains and folding marks.
Rabbinic Manuscripts and Letters
Rabbinic Manuscripts and Letters