Lengthy letter (2 pages) from R. Hillel Lichtenstein, Av Beit Din of Kraszna, to Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar. Brooklyn, New York, 8 Sivan, 1957.

Typewritten on official stationery – "Hillel Lichtenstein, Rabbi of Kraszna", with his signature on the margins of the second page: "Hillel Lichtenstein, Rabbi of Kraszna".

Sharp letter against Zionism and the State of Israel, sent to the president of the Central Rabbinical Congress, the Rebbe of Satmar.

The Rabbi of Kraszna begins his letter with the warnings of the great Tzaddikim of earlier generations to keep away from the Zionists, and their strict prohibition even against joining the religious Zionists. "And in our many sins, what they said has come to pass, for wicked, despicable people have arisen who act without restraint and deny God, His Torah and His commandments, and founded a wicked government in Eretz Israel – calling itself the State of Israel – and under the guise of saving lives and various ruses and excuses, they incited and drove people away from religion, and tens of thousands of our innocent Jewish brethren have fallen in their trap… And many of the Charedim… think it permitted to join them in various ways and to celebrate the holiday their rabbis and vain healers fabricated for them, Independence Day, with recitation of Hallel and changes in the prayer service… And now is not a time to be silent and sit idle – to see our people destroyed while we are silent…".

R. Hillel goes on to suggest teaching the evil of Zionism in the Charedi educational institutions, and the means that should be taken "to save our generation from the poisonous apostasy": 1. To have two fixed weekly lessons in all educational institutions to explain the dangers of Zionism, "to degrade the acts of those who incite and drive people away from religion, and inculcate a distance from Zionism – their beliefs, their institutions, their books and their newspapers…". 2. The Central Rabbinical Congress should publicly announce that the Zionist government is causing countless Jews to transgress their religion, and everyone dealing in communal matters should "grant vision to the blind Jews who are seduced by the secular groups, leaders and newspapers, to inform them of the truth as it is – that it is a wicked government, and all their thoughts and deeds are for evil, to uproot faith and religion…". 3. To strictly forbid traveling to the celebrations in Jerusalem on the tenth Independence Day. 4. To publicize all the above in posters and in sermons in the synagogue.

R. Hillel Lichtenstein (1900-1979), grandson of R. Hillel Lichtenstein of Kolomyia. Served as young rabbi in Kraszna, under his father R. Bendit Lichtenstein, Av Beit Din of Kraszna. Son-in-law of R. Shlomo Zalman Ehrenreich of Șimleu Silvaniei. After the Holocaust, he established a yeshiva in the displaced persons camp in Landsberg, Germany. He subsequently moved to Paris and Williamsburg, New York, where he established his Beit Midrash and was one of the head rabbis of the Orthodox communities in the United States. To his Responsa Kavanat HaLev, he added his short work of responsa Roni Akarah regarding agunot in the Holocaust, where he cites halachic principles he heard from the Be'er Chaim Mordechai of Târgu Neamț.

[2] leaves, official stationery. Approx. 28 cm. Good condition. Folds. Tears and light wear to margins and folds.