Letter of Satmar dayanim, signed by city dayanim Rebbe Chananya Yom Tov Lipa Mayer-Teitelbaum (son-in-law of Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum, Av Beit Din of Satmar) and R. Eliyahu Leichtag. Satmar, [8 Iyar], 1936.

Letter apparently written by R. Eliyahu Leichtag, dayan and posek of Satmar, and signed with his signature and that of Rebbe Chananya Yom Tov Lipa Mayer-Teitelbaum: “Chananya Yom Tov Lipa Mayer, Av Beit Din of Szemihaly”.

The letter was sent to the dayanim of the Beit Din of Grosswardein (Oradea), and it addresses a community member’s refusal to carry out the Beit Din’s ruling: “…the wealthy R. Mordechai Kalman of your community came to us complaining that R. Avraham… of your community refuses to carry out the ruling of the Beit Din that we already delivered last year… And as we cannot confirm from a distance if the matter is as he says, it is understood that it is the responsibility of that city’s dayan to invite them and determine who is in the right, and to force him to carry out the ruling as far as possible. We sign [8 Iyar], 5696 [1936] here in Satmar, Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, Eliyahu Leichtag”.

Rebbe Chananya Yom Tov Lipa Mayer-Teitelbaum of Sassov (1906-1966), son of Rebbe Chanoch Henich Mayer of Sassov-Keretsky and Rebbetzin Esther, daughter of the Kedushat Yom Tov of Sighet. In 1924 married Rebbetzin Chaya Roiza, daughter of his uncle Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar, in Orsheva. After the marriage, he lived near his father-in-law and uncle, and assisted him in directing his yeshivot in Orsheva, Carei and Satmar. He served in tandem as rabbi of Szemihaly (Bűdszentmihály) and Rosh Av Beit Din of Satmar. After the Holocaust, he immigrated to Jerusalem, founded the yeshiva Yitav Lev, and served as Rabbi of Beit Midrash Ohel Rachel of Satmar Chassidim in the city. During the 1948 War of Independence, Rebbe Chananya Yom Tov Lipa left Jerusalem and joined his father-in-law and uncle, Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar, in the United States. He rebuilt Sassov Chassidut in the United States. In late 1963, he returned to Eretz Israel and built the Yismach Moshe neighborhood, where his son R. Yosef David Teitelbaum currently serves as Rebbe of Sassov. R. Eliyahu Leichtag, dayan and posek of Satmar (perished in the Holocaust in 1944), son of R. Pinchas Leichtag, Av Beit Din of Huedin. In 1918 he was appointed as dayan and posek in the Satmar community. He served as dean of the Satmar yeshiva at the same time. He was intimate with Rebbe Yoel of Satmar, and prayed regularly in the Rebbe’s Beit Midrash.

Approx. 23x15 cm. Good condition. Folds and creases. Stains and minor wear.