Lengthy letter handwritten and signed by R. Yehudah Leib Chasman, author of Or Yahel. Jerusalem, Kislev 1931.

Written on the stationery of the Hebron – Knesset Yisrael yeshiva in Jerusalem, and addressed to R. Yechezkel Sarna (who was presumably abroad at the time taking care of yeshiva matters). His signature appears on the margins of the letter.

The letter describes the precarious financial situation of the yeshiva, the need for food and repaying debts. R. Chasman apparently mentions R. Avraham Shmuel Finkel (son of the Alter of Slabodka), who was to raise funds in South Africa, but was unsure whether to travel to Africa or America. He describes the threat to the yeshiva's continued existence and the need to try to do anything to help.

R. Yehudah Leib Chasman (1869-1935), a leading Torah scholar of his times. Av Beit Din of Szczuczyn, where he established a large yeshiva which closed at the outbreak of World War I. After the war, he was highly active in the Vaad HaYeshivot, and was a confidant of the Vaad leaders R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, the Chafetz Chaim and R. Shimon Shkop. He served as mashgiach of the Hebron yeshiva from 1927 until his passing.

[1] leaf, official stationery. 26.5 cm. Good condition. Fold lines.

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