Long letter (36 lines) handwritten and signed by the Skulener Rebbe Rabbi Eliezer Zusia Portugal. New York, 1962.
Detailed letter on the issue of Pidyon Shevuyim (redeeming captives) from prison [saving Jews and their emigration from Communist Romania]. He writes of his concern that the Romanian government may regret their emigration permits and cautions not to publicize the matter "as our Sages have taught us to learn from the Second Tablets (given without fanfare)". At the end of the letter, he writes about himself "that the many travails of our brethren, the Jewish People, tax my mind and strength", and signs with a blessing for long years and health "with Birkat HaTorah and the true redemption by the true redeemer".
Rabbi Eliezer Zusia Portugal – The Skulener Rebbe (1896-1982), son and successor of Rabbi Yisrael Avraham Av Beit Din of Skulen. During the Holocaust, toiled fervently to save Polish refugees. After the Holocaust, lived in Bucharest and ardently struggled for the sake of Jewry in Communist Romania. He raised dozens of orphans in his home, to save them from government education, and later smuggled them out of Romania to other countries. After he himself was forced to escape, he arrived in the US where he became one of the leading Chassidic rebbes. He founded a chain of orphanages and schools called Chesed L'Avraham – Skulen". Gave much charity and did much chesed and was very active in saving Jews.
Aerogram 30.5 cm, 36 handwritten lines, good-fair condition, stains and filing holes.