Four letters handwritten and signed by R. Shmuel Meir HaKohen (Maharsham) Hollander, to Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar. [Tel Aviv, ca. 1950s.]

Two letters on official stationery, another letter on aerogram, and a lengthy letter (6 large pages, written on both sides) on normal paper.

The letters deal with printing books and approbations to them, requests for financial assistance, his children's marriages, names to be mentioned in prayer, and more. In the lengthy letter, R. Shmuel Meir has a learned discussion on divorce laws, and discusses at length the halachic and theoretical considerations regarding autopsies in Israel.

R. Shmuel Meir HaKohen Hollander (1889-1965), son of R. Natan David, Av Beit Din of Amsana (Mszana Dolna) and son-in-law of R. Shalom Hager of Storozhynets. A great scholar and a faithful Chassid, he was a disciple of Rebbe Shlomo (the first) of Bobov, and was close to the rebbes of Belz, Ruzhin, Vizhnitz and Sanz. From 1913, he served as Av Beit Din and posek in Chernivtsi, and after the Holocaust he immigrated to Israel where he served as the Rabbi of the Neve Tzedek neighborhood and the Kehal Chassidim synagogue in Tel Aviv. He kept a voluminous correspondence with the great contemporary scholars. He was an intimate associate of the Rabbi of Tchebin (Trzebinia), Rebbe Aharon of Belz and the Chazon Ish (see Pe'er Hador, IV, p. 191 for a photocopy of a responsum of the Chazon Ish to Rabbi Hollander). Some of his novellae were printed in Shem HaKohen (responsa and sermons), Maharsham HaKohen on the Torah and many articles. [His teachings are cited often in the MiGedolei HaTorah VeHaChassidut series and elsewhere.]

4 letters (6 leaves). Varying size and condition. Overall good condition.

Lengthy letter (6 large pages) from Rebbe Avraham Chaim Roth, the Shomrei Emunim; sent to Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar, "regarding the disputes and persecution I am suffering from my brother-in-law… for more than seventeen years". Jerusalem, [30 Cheshvan], 1964.

Six typewritten pages, with corrections and additions in his handwriting, signed by the Rebbe (on the last leaf): "Avraham Chaim son of Sima". Under his signature, the Rebbe added eight handwritten lines.

The first page of the letter is printed on the Rebbe's official stationery: "Avraham Chaim Roth son of the Shomer Emunim of Beregszász, Jerusalem, Kiryat Shomerei Emunim".

In his letter, the Shomrei Emunim painedly describes at length the "persecution, distress, affronts, monetary and spiritual losses" dealt him and his mother by his brother-in-law Rebbe Avraham Yitzchak Kohn of Toldot Aharon.

Rebbe Avraham Chaim starts by explaining that the reason he could no longer restrain himself from writing to Rebbe Yoel of Satmar ("of whom my brother-in-law is a disciple") is that his brother-in-law is printing the books of his father, the Shomer Emunim, with many omissions and changes: "Where my father wrote at length he abbreviates, and where my father wrote briefly he expands, and he changed entire pages and discourses where instead of my father's words he put various words of his own contriving… and especially since I learned from a reliable source that my aforementioned brother-in-law intends to continue acting this way with all of my father's books, I came to a decision that now is not a time to be silent… I decided that we must fight this terrible abandon and protest it fiercely".

Rebbe Avraham Chaim goes on to discuss his halachic right as an heir to print his father's writings and receive some of the profits deriving from their sale; he goes on to describe the changes his brother-in-law the Toldot Aharon Rebbe is making in his father's books and ways, customs, decrees and instructions; he discusses at length the question of succession of the leadership of the Shomer Emunim group, according to halachah and according to early Chassidic precedent.

Rebbe Avraham Chaim also describes at length the holy character and unique conduct of his father, the Shomer Emunim: "I knew the smallest fraction of this holy man's greatness ever since I was three years old, as ever since then I never left his home and I slept with him in the room dedicated to his holy service. And often when I woke from my sleep as a baby is wont to do at night, I was taken aback by the awesome vision that appeared before my eyes, how he was burning like a fiery flame in his holy service, and the fire was always burning in him all night long, and he served with holy, fiery enthusiasm like a ministering angel… And once I saw how he burned his hands on a candle that was lit on his holy table to the point of bleeding… how he plucked thorns and put them under his garment and left them on his flesh that way for a few hours and sometimes the whole day… and he ordered me strictly not to tell any stranger…".

Rebbe Avraham Chaim tells how a few days before his passing, his father commanded him to take upon himself the responsibility of leadership, succeeding him in the position: "A few days before he passed away, he called me to his house and to his special room, and he told me that he feels that these are his final days in this lowly world… Therefore he wants me to succeed him in his position… And he told me explicitly then that he by no means wanted my aforementioned brother-in-law to succeed him (and I don't want to write what words my father said to me then to avoid denigrating my brother-in-law)…"

Rebbe Avraham Chaim goes on to recount the events that took place after the passing of his father, the Shomer Emunim, and how the dispute with his brother-in-law, the Toldot Aharon Rebbe, developed. He tells that at first, immediately after his father's passing, he refused to take the leadership upon himself, and only after the elder disciples of his father, led by his father-in-law Rebbe Gedaliah Moshe Goldman of Zvhil, begged him to accept the position did he assent "on condition to wait until after the thirty days of mourning".

He goes on to tell how two of his opponents among the Chassidim hid his father's will and added a forged line according to which his father the Shomer Emunim, would have commanded his son not to accept the leadership after his passing. Not only that, but "these two men immediately began to persuade the young men… that the will says I should not accept any leadership position, so naturally my brother-in-law would be my father's successor… and their act bore fruit… and these two men had the students sign the letter of appointment against their will and by threats". One of the two later had a change of heart and sent him a letter admitting what he did and describing his part in the crime.

At the end of the letter, Rebbe Avraham Chaim discusses at length the question of succession as Rebbe from father to son. He first cites the Divrei Chaim of Sanz who writes that "there is no element of inheritance in this… because the role of a Rebbe to his followers is not an office like that of a rabbi in which his son has precedence…" (Chosen Mishpat 32), but he disagrees, citing proofs from Rishonim and Acharonim, and the fact that most of the great Chassidic Rebbes in earlier generations were succeeded by their sons.

On the last page, Rebbe Avraham Chaim adds a summary. He writes that he attaches some of his father's writings to the letter, proving that it was his will that his son take on his leadership after his passing, and he asks Rebbe Yoel of Satmar for his view on all the halachic issues raised in the letter.

On the margins of the letter, Rebbe Avraham Chaim adds eight lines in his handwriting, begging the Satmar Rebbe to direct his brother-in-law to return his father's manuscript "which he stole from me and does not want to return", since he wanted to reprint Taharat HaKodesh without omissions.

[6] leaves. 32 cm. Good condition. Light wear. Tear on the first leaf (not affecting text).

Large and assorted collection of 65 letters of rabbis, dayanim, followers and associates, to Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar and his attendant R. Yosef Ashkenazi. 1950s-1970s. Most in Hebrew, the rest in Yiddish.

Letters of rabbis, dayanim, followers and associates, pious laymen in Jerusalem and Eretz Israel, and of associations, organizations, yeshivas and Torah and charitable institutions all over the world.

Handwritten letters (a few typewritten), with signatures and stamps of rabbis and institutions, some on official stationery.

The letters contain Shanah Tovah and Ketivah VaChatimah Tovah wishes; blessings for Jewish festivals; names to be mentioned in prayer for blessing and sustenance, health and happiness from children; personal questions and requests for advice; donations to support Satmar institutions; halachic questions and Torah discussions; advocacy and communal affairs; resolution of controversies and disputes; printing books; requests for assistance and financial support; receipts and confirmations of donations received; and more.

The collection includes letters from rabbis including: • R. Yechiel Yehudah Isaacson, son-in-law of the Atzei Chaim of Sighet (brother of the Rebbe of Satmar), rabbi of the Achuzah neighborhood in Haifa and Magen Avraham community in Los Angeles; • R. Shalom Schnitzler, Av Beit Din of Békéscsaba, rabbi in London; • R. Avraham David Horowitz, Av Beit Din of Adath Israël community in Strasbourg [later member of the Badatz Edah HaCharedit in Jerusalem]; • R. Shmuel Pressburger, Av Beit Din of Bonyhád and rabbi in Vienna; • R. Chaim Meir Braun, rabbi of Etz Chaim Beit Midrash in Boro Park; • R. Tzvi Elazar Flam [son of Rebbe David Flam of Alesk-Montreal]; • R. Tzvi Yaakov Abraham, Av Beit Din of Turda and director of the Bureau of Orthodox Communities in Transylvania, author of "On the History of Judaism in Transylvania" (Hebrew); • R. Yehoshua Friedman, "brother of R. Lipa Friedman"; • R. Moshe Chaim Efraim Bloch; • R. Mordechai Moshe Felshin of New York; • R. Gedaliah Finkelstein of Bonyhád; • R. Yitzchak Blusenstein of Budapest; • R. Yehudah Aryeh Pilaf of London ["a refugee from Kleinwardein, Hungary, and recently I have been living in Budapest, and I was an emissary of the local Beit Din"]; • R. Yaakov HaKohen Blass of Munich; • R. Eliezer Yaakov son of R. Tzvi Hirsch Farber, a rabbi in London; • R. Elchanan Pesach Gordon, rabbi of Knesset Yisrael community in Chicago; • R. Avraham Yisrael Yoskovitz of Satmar; • R. Eliezer Gorelik, rabbi in New Haven, Connecticut; • R. Shmuel Dov Bernath, Av Beit Din of Adath Israel in Sydney, Australia; • R. Moshe Rosenberg of Paris; • R. Chaim Davidowitz, rabbi of Knesset Yisrael community in Denver, Colorado; • R. Asher Silberstein, chairman of the Rabbinical Union of Los Angeles; • R. Elisha Rosenfeld, formerly rabbi in Chișinău, Iași and Grosswardein (Oradea); • R. Simchah Yosef Walter, rabbi in Brooklyn; • and more.

The collection includes letters of yeshivas, institutions and organizations: • Beit Yaakov in Bronx, New York; • Or Yosef yeshiva in France; • Beit Hillel yeshiva in New York; and more.

About 65 letters, some on official stationery or aerograms. Varying size and condition. Overall good condition.

Letter of the Tzaddik R. Gershon Liebman, a leader of the Novhardok yeshiva movement. Paris, [25 Tishrei], 1962.

Typewritten on official stationery of "the holy Or Yosef yeshiva in France", and signed by the dean of the yeshiva, R. "Gershon Liebman."

The letter was sent to "the holy and pure Rebbe, man of God, unique in his generation, R. Yoel Teitelbaum". R. Gershon thanks the Rebbe for his permission to conduct a fundraising campaign in his Beit Midrash for the Or Yosef network of institutions, and for his personal donation of 300 dollars – "which is a clear sign of his esteem and admiration for us… and this circulated in our hearts a spirit of might and dedication to God's war against Zionism and its associates, the modern idolatry, to go in the Rebbe's holy way and stand strong…".

R. Gershon Liebman (1905-1997), founder and leader of the Or Yosef network of Novhardok yeshivas, and one of the leaders of the Novhardok Mussar movement. Born in Ostropoli (Staryi Ostropil), he studied in the Novhardok yeshivas in Gomel and Bialystok, and was heavily influenced by his teachers, students of the Alter of Novhardok. During the Holocaust, he led the Novhardok yeshiva movement in Vilna, and later in the ghettos and Nazi camps. The fire of Novhardok never ceased to burn in R. Gershon even there. He organized underground yeshivas with the same learning programs as usual, with schedules for Mussar and consultations on service of God. R. Gershon married in Vilna in 1940, but his wife and family were sent to their death in 1941. He himself hid in the ghetto of Vilna and was later sent to concentration camps in Estonia and Latvia. At the end of the Holocaust, he reached Bergen-Belsen, where he established the Novhardok yeshiva after the liberation of the camp. In 1948 the yeshiva moved to France and expanded to a network of over 40 Torah and educational institutions in France, which R. Liebman called Or Yosef. To this day R. Gershon is known as "Rabbeinu" in France due to the great admiration his disciples and acquaintances had for him.

[1] leaf, official stationery. Approx. 27 cm. Good condition. Folds. Stains and light wear.

Collection of 17 letters signed by rabbis and dayanim of the Edah HaCharedit in Jerusalem, sent to the Gaon Av Beit Din of the Edah HaCharedit Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar and his attendant R. Yosef Ashkenazi. Jerusalem, 1950s-1970s.

Some of the letters are on official stationery, some bear the official stamp of the Edah HaCharedit; some are handwritten and some are typewritten; some are lengthy.

The letters are signed by the dayanim, rabbis and directors of the Edah HaCharedit in Jerusalem, including: Rosh Av Beit Din R. Yitzchak Yaakov Weiss; the dayanim R. Moshe Aryeh Freund, R. Eliyahu Zlotnik, R. Yisrael Yitzchak HaLevi Reisman, R. David HaLevi Jungreis; secretary R. Yosef Scheinberger; R. Chaim Yitzchak Schwartz, R. Amram Blau, R. Eliyahu Nachum Parush-Glickman, R. Hillel Schlesinger, R. Yeshayah Zwebner, R. Gershon Stemmer, R. Mordechai Tzvi Scheinberger.

Contents of the letters: The Rebbe's visits to Eretz Israel, public affairs, activities with immigrants, opposition to Zionism, report from a trip to London for publicity and fundraising, requests for blessing for specific names, blessings for the new year and other occasions, support for institutions, requests for assistance to needy Jerusalem community members, protest against the mixed pool in Jerusalem, Shemitah Etrog controversy, reception of the "Health Fund for Yeshiva Students" with the participation of the philanthropists R. Yisrael Zupnik and R. Getzel Berger, and more.

Enclosed: A letter signed by R. Hillel Schlesinger and R. Yitzchak Zwebner sent to the secretary of the Edah HaCharedit R. Yosef Scheinberger regarding mentioning R. Gershon Stemmer to Rebbe Yoel of Satmar.

18 letters. Varying size and condition. Overall good condition.