Auction 96 Early Printed Books, Chassidut and Kabbalah, Books Printed in Jerusalem, Letters and Manuscripts

Lot 287

"Public-Private" Pesach Letter from the Lubavitcher Rebbe – 11th Nisan, 1972 – "For a Kosher and Joyous Festival and True Freedom, Freedom from Physical Worries and Spiritual Worries"

Opening: $700
Sold for: $1,250
Including buyer's premium

"Public-private" letter from Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Brooklyn, New York, 11th Nisan, 1972.
Typewritten on the Rebbe's official stationery, with his handwritten signature – "M.Schneersohn", with words added in his handwriting.
A "public-private" letter (an identical letter sent to several individuals), sent to R. Naftali Gluskin and members of the class for study of Chassidut opened by him in Ramat Sharon. In his letter, the Rebbe offers a blessing for the upcoming Pesach festival: "Approaching the Festival of Matzot, the time of our freedom… I hereby offer my blessing for a kosher and joyous festival and for true freedom, freedom from physical worries and spiritual worries – from everything that obstructs service of G-d with happiness and joy; and to draw from this freedom and happiness the entire year…". At the end of the letter the Rebbe adds in his handwriting: "Respectfully and [with a festival blessing]".
On the margins of the letter the Rebbe offers his thanks for the blessing he received for his birthday on 11th Nisan: "Congratulations for the blessings. And what you said is already stated in the Torah: 'And I (G-d, the source of blessings) will bless those who bless you, ' with the blessing of G-d, Whose addition is greater than the principal".


R. Naftali Gluskin (d. 1947), a student of the Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch yeshiva in Kremenchuk (1918-1919) and a disciple of the Rabbinical Seminary in the Chassidic town Nevel (1925-1927). Married Rebbetzin Tamar Ita, daughter of R. Shimon Moshe Diskin Rabbi of Lyakhavichy, a close friend of Rebbetzin Chanah, mother of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. In 1944-1945, when Chanah was widowed of her husband R. Levi Yitzchak in Almaty, Tamar Ita devotedly stood by her side, despite the risk involved. The Rebbetzin wrote to her in one of her letters: "I well remember how you related to me… at the time nobody dared to stand within my four cubits". R. Naftali and his wife Tamar Ita left Russia in 1946. At first they stayed in the Wegscheid DP camp in Austria, and they later moved to France, where they founded educational institutions for Chabad girls. In 1949 they immigrated to Israel and settled in Ramat HaSharon, later moving to Bnei Brak where he worked as a shochet. R. Naftali disseminated Chassidut and his wife Tamar Ita continued to work as an educator, and she was a founder of the Beit Rivkah foundation in Kfar Chabad.


[1] leaf, official stationery of the Rebbe. 28 cm. Good condition. Folding marks and creases. Stains and light wear.

Chabad – Manuscripts, Letters and Chaluka of 11th Nissan
Chabad – Manuscripts, Letters and Chaluka of 11th Nissan