Letter written "at the command" of Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar requesting a donation for purchase of a new building for the yeshiva and Talmud Torah near the house of the Rebbe in Williamsburg. Brooklyn, New York, "Isru Chag of Sukkot" (24 Tishrei), 1950.

Printed on official stationery of Rebbe "Yoel Teitelbaum, Av Beit Din of Satmar and the region", and bearing the signature of the Rebbe's faithful secretary, R. Chananya Yom Tov Lipa Friedman, head of the Yitav Lev community and director of Satmar institutions in the United States (son-in-law by his first marriage of R. Shaul Brach, Av Beit Din of Košice).

Sent to the philanthropist R. Menachem Mendel Feder "at the command of the Rebbe". At the beginning of the letter, R. Lipa Friedman describes the development and expansion of the Satmar community and institutions, and the newfound need to purchase a place for the yeshiva and Talmud Torah: "Thank God we found a house at a comfortable price in the Rebbe's neighborhood [Williamsburg], so we decided to purchase it, but unfortunately few can comprehend the importance and urgency of the matter…".

R. Lipa adds that the Rebbe directed him to write to him personally and ask him to donate a "respectable sum for the purpose of purchasing the house". Likewise, he asks him to visit the Rebbe who is interested in speaking with him on the matter: "We would be very satisfied if he would take the time to visit the Rebbe to speak with him face to face about the whole matter, and also personally see the house that we bought and the students of the yeshiva – I am certain that he will be satisfied and that it will give him spiritual pleasure and make an unforgettable impression on him".

On the margins of the letter is a handwritten inscription (in pen), the reply of R. Menachem Mendel Feder who writes of his donation of 200 dollars for the cause: "Here attached is a check for 200 dollars for the holy yeshiva building – Respectfully, Menachem Mendel Feder".

Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar (1887-1979) was the youngest son of Rebbe Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the Kedushat Yom Tov (1836-1904), and grandson of Rebbe Yekutiel Yehuda, the Yitav Lev (1808-1883), who both served as rabbis of Sighet (Sighetu Marmației) and were leaders of Chassidic Jewry in the Maramureș region. He was renowned from his youth as a leading Torah scholar of his generation, for his perspicacity and intellectual capacities, as well as for his holiness and outstanding purity. At a young age, he was appointed rabbi of Irshava. In 1925, he was appointed rabbi of Karoly (Carei; in place of R. Shaul Brach who went to serve as rabbi of Kashoi), and in 1934, of Satmar (Satu Mare). In all the places he served as rabbi, he also maintained a large yeshiva and Chassidic court. He stood at the helm of the faithful, uncompromising Orthodox Jewry in the Maramureș region. He was one of the founding pillars of the Torah world in the generation following the Holocaust. After surviving the Holocaust, he emigrated to the United States, where he established the Satmar Chassidic community. He served as president of the Eda HaCharedit in Jerusalem, and as leader of Orthodox Jewry in the United States and throughout the world. His writings were published in dozens of books: VaYoel Moshe, Responsa Divrei Yoel, Divrei Yoel on the Torah and more.

[1] leaf, official stationery. Approx. 28 cm. Good condition. Folds and creases. Tears and light wear to the margins.