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Letter (approx. 12 lines), handwritten and signed by Rebbe "Yitzchak Isaac Taub". Kaliv (Kalov, Nagykálló), 1813.
Summons to a rabbinical court hearing concerning child support for a young orphan, of a wealthy uncle residing in a different city. In the letter, the Rebbe explains the necessity of his coming to Kaliv for the trial. The Rebbe concludes the letter with his signature: "Yitzchak Isaac Taub Rabbi of Szabolcs county".
Rebbe Yitzchak Isaac Taub (1751-1821) was the first Chassidic Rebbe in Hungary. An outstanding Torah scholar and holy kabbalist, he was the close disciple of R. Shmuel Shmelke of Nikolsburg (Mikulov) and of R. Elimelech of Lizhensk (Leżajsk). Chassidic lore attributes his attraction to Chassidism to R. Leib Sarah's, who met him as a young boy of eight shepherding geese and singing shepherd songs with great emotion. R. Leib Sarah's, then on a mission in Hungary at the behest of the Baal Shem Tov, took the boy to Galicia to R. Shmelke Horowitz (who later served as rabbi of Nikolsburg and Moravia), describing him as possessing "an elevated and holy soul". There, he became acquainted with R. Elimelech of Lizhensk, and for a long period frequented his court. In 1781, he returned to his home country and was appointed rabbi of Kaliv (Nagykálló) and of the Szabolcs county, a position he held for forty years.
R. Yitzchak Isaac – progenitor of the Chassidic movement in Hungary, brought thousands of people back to Torah observance and was famed as a wonder-worker. Many flocked to Kaliv to receive his advice, blessings and salvations. He dealt extensively in Kabbalah. His prime disciples include R. Chaim Yosef of Stropkov, R. Yechezkel Panet the Mareh Yechezkel, R. Mendel and R. Wolf – whom Chassidic leaders testified were fluent in all the teachings of the Arizal by heart. Wondrous stories about R. Yitzchak Isaac circulated, including revelations of angels, studying Torah with the prophet Eliyahu, trips miraculously shortened, barren women conceiving, ill people recovering, and other miracles and revelations of Divine Inspiration.
The Minchat Elazar of Munkacs extols the virtues of R. Yitzchak Isaac in one of his books, describing him as an outstanding and holy Torah scholar, reputed amongst our rabbis as a true bearer of tremendous Divine Inspiration, reaching tremendous levels in his Torah and service of G-d. A teacher of great Torah scholars and Kabbalists, and founder of Chassidism in Hungary, giving over the teachings he received from R. Shmelke Horowitz, Rabbi of Nikolsburg. He quotes the Divrei Chaim of Sanz, who reputedly said that until today, R. Yitzchak Isaac's holiness is felt as far as three leagues away from Kalov (Nimukei Orach Chaim, Munkacs 1930, section 243, 1, p. 113).
In Igrot Sofrim (Vienna, 1928, p. 38, letter 40), a letter addressed to R. Yitzchak Isaac from the Chatam Sofer is excerpted, in which the latter addresses him in terms of great veneration, also signing the letter (ibid, p. 39) as "so are the words of one who loves him dearly".
R. Yitzchak Isaac would customarily sing Jewish and allegoric songs in Hungarian, such as the famous song "Szól a kakas már" ("The Rooster is Crowing" – sung until today in the original Hungarian words, at gatherings led by rebbes on festivals). Other famous songs he composed include: "The Shepherd and the Master" and "Forest, Forest" (this song, originally a shepherd's song on the vastness of the forest and his distance from the city, was adapted by R. Yitzchak Isaac to express the Jewish people's longing to exit the exile, like a wanderer who yearns to exit the vast forest: "Exile, O exile, how vast are you! Shechinah, Shechinah, how distant you are! Were the exile not so vast, the Shechinah wouldn't be so far. Would I be guided out of the exile, and reunited with the Shechinah…" – free translation from Hungarian).
[1] leaf. 22X17 cm. 12 handwritten lines. The verso of the leaf contains the address of the recipient of the letter (presumably also in R. Yitzchak Isaac's handwriting). Fair-good condition. Wear to the folds. Stains.