Long fascinating letter handwritten and signed by Rabbi Naftali Amsterdam to his close friend Rabbi Itze'le Blazer, Av Beit Din of St. Petersburg. Helsingfors (Helsinki), Finland. [c. 1871].
At the beginning of the letter, Rabbi Naftali writes nostalgically of times past, when they basked together in the shadow of their revered teacher Rabbi Yisrael of Salant. He writes: "I will remind you of things that naturally people forget…it is very good for a person to preserve these moments, that man maintain a good quality, because it is known that a person cannot maintain one quality – except those who have lofty qualities like the Chassid [Rabbi Leib Chassid of Kelm]. Further in the letter he suggests that Rabbi Itze'le find himself a place for seclusion: "As soon as a person feels these good moments and intervals, he should see that he secludes his soul, and also his body if he can, and then he can write a long list of thoughts such as we had merited at that time, when his light was upon our heads" [when they both studied with their great teacher, Rabbi Yisrael of Salant].
The letter includes a halachic responsum discussing the mitzvah of Pidyon HaBen regarding a father who is serving in the army far away and cannot come to redeem his firstborn and does not have the five sela'im necessary for the pidyon. The question is if he can redeem him by means of a third party, etc.
Rabbi Naftali concludes the letter relating that his wife and family members are not yet prepared to move to Finland, "She fears that life there will not be like in the city of Nowogród, and also because I have informed them that no Jewish person from our country is allowed to trade in this country, which is indeed the case. I have not yet disclosed that she will not come to the residents of the city, perhaps you can really find a wise solution for this and consult those who know, for me…".
Rabbi Naftali Amsterdam (1832-1916), was born in the city of Salant and at a young age became attached to the ways of his close teacher, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, until he became one of his greatest disciples. He was counted among the first ten carefully chosen disciples in the Kovne Kollel founded by Rabbi Yisrael Salanter in 1849. In 1867, following the instructions of his teacher Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, Rabbi Naftali moved to serve as rabbi of Helsingfors (Helsinki), the capital city of Finland, and he retained this position until 1875. [In 1870, he was accepted as Rabbi of the city of Nowogród and served there for a year but in 1871 he returned to the Helsinki rabbinate]. In 1875, he moved back to Kovno and served there in several positions and in 1906 ascended to Jerusalem. There he continued his Torah and mussar studies for ten years and influenced the entire Torah community of Jerusalem with the mussar school of thought.
His close friend, Rabbi Yitzchak Blazer, R’ Itze’le Peterburger (1837-1907) was one of the greatest disciples of Rabbi Yisrael of Salant, a leading Torah scholar in his times who spread the Mussar movement. Following the instructions of his teacher Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, he moved to the capital city of St. Petersburg
to serve in its rabbinate. He served as Rabbi and Av Beit Din from 1862-1878. In 1878, he resigned from the rabbinate and moved to Kovno and from 1980, he headed the Kovno Kollel. In 1904, he immigrated to Jerusalem. He authored the Pri Yitzchak responsa and Kochvei Or which was published together with Or Yisrael written by his teacher, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter.
The content of this letter, written after 1871, after Rabbi Naftali returned to Finland, is interesting and enlightening. It portrays correspondence between tsaddikim, both mussar giants, Torah geniuses and amazingly pious individuals, leading disciples of the founder of the Mussar movement, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, who both spread his teachings. They write longingly of days past, at the time they basked together in the shadow of their teacher, they discuss ways to serve G-d, negotiate halachic issues and consult one another about personal matters. This letter reflects their way of thinking and the uniqueness of Rabbi Yisrael’s disciples, in their integral combination of Halacha, conduct and mussar [between man and G-d, man and his fellow-man, man and himself].
[2] pages 22 cm. Approximately 35 handwritten lines, good condition, folding marks. With wax stamp of Rabbi Naftali (almost whole).