Letter from R. Yehuda Yudel Rosenberg to his colleague R. Yitzchak Gershtenkorn, founder of Bnei Brak. Montreal, Canada, Adar 1931.
In his letter, R. Yudel describes a jubilee celebration organized by his congregation in honor of his seventieth birthday. He writes that he did not approve of the public banquet, but agreed to it in order to meet his monetary obligations towards the printing of the seventh section of his work "Zohar Torah" on the five scrolls. He describes the difficulty in selling the sixth volume on Psalms due to the Great Depression of 1929. "The rich became poor and deep pockets were emptied, for the Hebrew work "pocket" is an acronym for 'All Jews [invested in] stocks' – the Jews invested in the stock market in order to become wealthy easily, but the tables turned. My relatives through marriage, the Ritschler family…have become impoverished, and this is therefore not an opportune time to sell holy books, for if there is no flour [financial means] there is no Torah".
In the letter R. Rosenberg also discusses R. Gershtenkorn's suggestion that he accept a rabbinical position in the fledgling community of Bnei Brak, and the community's inability to pay an official salary: "[You] have received a response that the community would be eager to accept me as a rabbi without financial obligation, and I would have to attempt to find other sources of income…truthfully, I greatly desire to settle in the Holy Land in my old age, but I lack the financial means to do so…".
R. Yehuda Yudel Rosenberg (1861-1936) was among the Torah giants of Poland and Canada, and a prolific author. He received rabbinic ordination from the "Torat Chessed" of Lublin and the Ostrovtzer Rebbe, and corresponded with R. Tzadok Hacohen of Lublin. He officiated as rabbi of Tarlow, and later of Lodz and Warsaw. In 1913 he immigrated to Canada, where he officiated as rabbi in Toronto and Montreal. He authored many works in Jewish law and kabbala as well as stories of tsaddikim in Hebrew and Yiddish. His important work "Yadot Nedarim" (Warsaw, 1904) was widely accepted and reprinted in many editions. His greatest achievement is considered to be his seven-volume work "Zohar Hatorah" (1924-1930), which translated the Zohar into Hebrew for the first time. This letter discusses the printing and dissemination of the final two volumes of this work. However, he gained his greatest fame for his fascinating tales of tzaddikim, many fictionalized, regarding the Maharal of Prague and the "Shpola Zeide": "Nifla'ot Maharal" (Piotrkow, 1909) which first introduced the legend of the "Golem of Prague", who has since become firmly entrenched in Jewish folklore; "Chochmat Maharal MiPrague" (Piotrkow, 1911), which publicized a fictitious correspondence between the Maharal and a Christian priest named "Johann Sylvester"; and "Tiferet Maharal" (Piotrkow, 1912), with wondrous stories about the "Shpola Zeide".
Official stationery, written on both sides. 27 cm. Good condition. Wear and foxing. Folding marks.