Postcard, with a 7-line letter, handwritten and signed by R. Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz author of Chazon Ish. [Bnei Brak], 1937.
The letter was addressed to the Machaneh Yisrael kibbutz in Emek Yizre'el, at the beginning of shemittah, 1937. The Chazon Ish informs them that he relayed their letter to R. Chaim Ozer in Vilna, "together with a few other things", and he advises them to also write to the heads of Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah in Europe, R. Baruch Ber Leibowitz and R. Elchanan Wasserman, "to speed up matters". The Chazon Ish instructs them to send their letters directly to these rabbis, as it is unnecessary for him to comment on their letters, since he has already written to R. Chaim Ozer, and these rabbis will surely confer with R. Chaim Ozer on this matter. The letter is signed with the Chazon Ish's initials: "Peace, A.Y." (Avraham Yeshayahu).
On the verso of the postcard, the address and name of the sender, (A. Karelitz, Bnei Brak), also handwritten by the Chazon Ish.
R. Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz (1879-1953), author of Chazon Ish, a foremost scholar in Halacha and Jewish philosophy in our generations. A preeminent Torah scholar and hidden righteous man, his first book Chazon Ish was published in 1911 anonymously, and he thereafter became known under that title. He immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1933, where he became recognized as the leading Torah authority, and stood at the helm of the resurrection of the Torah world in our generation. He encouraged and bolstered the observance of Halacha and of the commandments pertaining to the land. He battled fiercely for the observance of Shabbat and shemittah, and was the only Halachic authority whom the Orthodox, shemittah observant agriculturists relied upon for their questions on the laws of shemittah and other laws pertaining to the land. He authored and published numerous volumes of Chazon Ish, which were written with great toil and in-depth study, covering nearly all Talmudic topics. Shemittah 5698 was the first shemittah following the arrival of the Chazon Ish in Eretz Israel. That year, the Chazon Ish battled staunchly to uphold the shemittah, fiercely opposing the Heter Mechirah, which in his opinion was dubious. The Chazon Ish supported the few settlements who observed shemittah that year, in various ways. He delved into researching the Talmudic topics as well as the agricultural aspects, issuing halachic rulings and guiding the Agudist settlements in the intricacies of shemittah observance, which agricultural activities are prohibited and which are allowed, and procuring financial support for the valiant shemittah observers.
Postcard, 14X9 cm. Good-fair condition. Folding marks. Stamp and postmark (from 1937).
The letter and its picture were published in Halichot Sadeh, issue 52, Kislev 1987, p. 11.