Letter on postcard, handwritten and signed by R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski; with several additional lines handwritten and signed by R. Chizkiyahu Yosef Yitzchak Mishkovski. Vilna, 4 Adar I, 1913.

Sent to Berlin, to the emissaries of the "General Committee" R. Tzvi Hirsch Salant and R. Rivlin. R. Chaim Ozer writes that R. Mishkovski was to travel to Jerusalem, and tersely mentions some matters he dealt with, apparently also for the Eretz Israel fund.

R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski (1863-1940) was a foremost rabbi of his generation and leader of European Jewry. A disciple of R. Chaim of Brisk, he was appointed rabbi and posek of Vilna at the age of 24. 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. This letter shows how already as a young rabbi (under the age of 50), R. Chaim Ozer took on responsibility in communal affairs.

R. Chizkiyahu Yosef Yitzchak Mishkovski (1884-1946), Rabbi of Krynki, immigrated to Jerusalem in 1904 and kept the company of his renowned father-in-law R. Yitzchak Blazer, whose position as leader of the Vilna Kollel and General Committee he assumed upon his death. In 1913 he left Israel in connection with appointing a new rabbi for the Ashkenazi community in Jerusalem (the present letter was written during this period), where he stayed (despite his plan to return to Jerusalem mentioned by R. Chaim Ozer in the present letter), and was appointed Rabbi of Krynki after World War I. During and after the Holocaust he was active in rescue efforts and establishing Torah worldwide.

Postcard, 14x9 cm. Good condition. Stains. Postmarks (one postage stamp detached).

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