Two items handwritten by R. Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler:
• Lengthy and interesting letter, in his handwriting and with his signature. Bnei Brak, Elul 1949. The letter describes the difficulties involved in the move from England and his acclimation to Eretz Israel. R. Dessler describes the high spiritual level of the Ponovezh yeshiva, how talented the students are, their exceptional diligence and engagement in the topics being studied, and the great satisfaction this causes him. Further in the letter, he conveys his hesitation regarding a different position, offered to him by R. Avraham Kalmanowitz, to disseminate Torah in the United States: "…I received a letter from R. Kalmanowitz, perhaps I will nonetheless return to America to be involved in the yeshiva, obviously at the moment, it is impractical to go from here to there…". He concludes the letter with many blessings for the new year "…a year of growth of the spirit, a year of growth in Torah and mitzvot, a year of true redemption and salvation, that is complete repentance, and may you merit all the goodness which follows in this world… Eli. Eliezer Dessler".
[1] leaf. 27 cm. 28 autograph lines. Thin paper. Good-fair condition. Creases. Minor tear, repaired with tape.
The letter was printed in the anthology of R. Dessler's letters (Sefer HaZikaron Michtav MeEliyahu, Bnei Brak, 2004, I, pp. 226-227).
• Manuscript (4 leaves) handwritten by R. Dessler, ethical-kabbalistic essay in several chapters, entitled "The Substance of Middot and Evil Inclination". [Bnei Brak, 1949]. This essay is one of the first discourses R. Dessler delivered in the Ponovezh yeshiva. It was published with many changes in Michtav M'Eliyahu (part V, pp. 90-95; part IV, p. 295), under the heading "The Nature of Middot and the Evil Inclination". One of the passages which were omitted when preparing the essay for print, is a passage relating to the analysis of Hitler's character traits, in which R. Dessler writes that Hitler, with all his arrogance, was so taken by his desires, that he did not realize how shameful and dishonorable his conduct was (in Michtav M'Eliyahu, the passage was printed with the omission of the example of Hitler's distasteful conduct).
[4] leaves. 27 cm. Thin paper. Fair condition. Wear and stains.
R. Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler (1892-1953), a leading producer of musar literature in our generation, and a descendant of R. Yisrael of Salant, founder of the Musar movement. A product of the Kelm yeshiva, he was the son-in-law of R. Nachum Ze'ev Ziv of Kelm. He arrived in England in 1927 and served as rabbi of Dalston, London. Among the founders of the Gateshead Kollel and of Torah institutes throughout England. In his later years, he served as mashgiach of the Ponevezh yeshiva in Bnei Brak. His profound lectures constructed upon the fundamentals of ethics, Kabbalah and Chassidism were published by his disciples in the book Sichot U'Ma'amarim, in the five volumes of Michtav Me'Eliyahu and in Sefer Zikaron Michtav Me'Eliyahu, which have become the basis for profound study of Musar in this generation.