Two pages (40 lines), draft of a letter, Chassidic explanation of Aggadot of the sages, handwritten by Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneersohn - the Lubavitcher Rebbe. [Brooklyn, New York, 1950s].
This leaf contains an original explanation handwritten by the rebbe (in pencil), in which he elucidates the difference between the saying of the Tanna Nachum Ish Gam Zu: "This too is for the good" (Taanit 21a), and that of his disciple R. Akiva: "Whatever G-d does is for the good" (Berachot 60b).
The explanation was given over by the rebbe at length in a Hitvaadut on 20th Av 1951 (see: Torat Menachem, III, p. 268 onwards; Likutei Sichot, II, p. 394 onwards), and mentioned briefly in several of his letters (Igrot Kodesh, VI, p. 231; IX, p. 72, and others), however this is the draft prepared by the rebbe, containing an outline of the explanation. It opens with: "In response to their question", indicating that this was written as a draft of a letter.
This manuscript was published in the Tzaddik LaMelech anthology (Kfar Chabad, 1993), III, p. 129, with the images of these pages (pp. 130-131).
A scrap of paper handwritten by the rebbe is enclosed, with several unpublished notes concerning the letter (see Hebrew description).
[2] leaves. Larger leaf: 14X15.5 cm (written on both sides). Enclosed scrap of paper: 5X14 cm. Good condition. Stains and folding marks. Staple on corner of larger leaf, not affecting text. Small marginal tear to small leaf, not affecting text.
Drafts of lectures or letters of the Lubavitcher rebbe are extremely rare.

Letter handwritten and signed by R. Yosef Elimelech Kahana Rabbi of Ungvar and the region. Ungvar (Uzhhorod), 1942.
Addressed to his colleague R. Shmuel Sanvil Kahana-Fränkel, head of the Central Bureau of Orthodox Jewry in Hungary. In the letter, he writes: "I would have very much wanted to attend this important convention… but from the time we became one nation, just once… I travelled by train to a convention in Pest. Besides that time, I did not travel by train because I do not have the necessary documents. Last week, someone arrived here from Chop. His long beard was shaved on the train. Certainly, if I was able to travel, I would do so, but it is impossible… Yosef Elimelech Kahana".
R. Yosef Elimelech Kahana (1866-1944, perished in the Holocaust), was a leading rabbi and yeshiva dean in Hungary. Disciple of R. Shlomo Ganzfried, author of the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, and of the Shevet Sofer, he served as Rabbi of Hernád-Zsadány (Zsadány) from 1892 in place of his father R. Yitzchak Isak Kahana. In 1917, he moved to serve as Rabbi of Bonyhád, and in 1923, of Tzelem (Deutschkreutz). In 1931, he was appointed Rabbi of the large city of Ungvar and its region. In all these places, he headed a large yeshiva and taught thousands of disciples. Among his renowned disciples: R. Shmuel HaLevi Wosner, author of Shevet HaLevi, R. Menasheh Klein Rabbi of Ungvar, author of Mishneh Halachot, R. Yaakov Snyders Rabbi of Basel, R. Amram Blum Chief Rabbi of Argentina, R. Yekutiel Yehuda Greenwald Rabbi of Columbus. His writings, novellae on Talmudic topics and responsa, were destroyed in the Holocaust, and remnants of his novellae and responsa were published in the book Chiddushei R. Yosef Elimelech HaKohen (Jerusalem, 1969), by his grandson R. Yitzchak Isak Jungreis. Beit Yisrael HaShalem (Taussig, part VIII, p. 211) relates in the name of his disciple R. Simcha Bunem David Sofer, that R. Yosef Elimelech Kahana Rabbi of Ungvar would recite the Akdamot on Shavuot with great passion, declaring that whoever listened carefully to his Akdamot recital, was sure to repent before his death.
[1] leaf, official stationery. 23 cm. Approx. 14 autograph lines and signature. Very good condition.

Lengthy letter (3 large pages) from R. Aharon Kotler, addressed to R. Chizkiyahu Yosef Mishkovsky. [United States, ca. 1944].
Typewritten, with the handwritten signature of R. Aharon Kotler. The letter discusses Holocaust rescue matters, and the distribution of packages and money to refugees in Russia, Siberia, Teheran and the Far East. The letter discloses confidential information about rescue activities, which are unknown from other sources.
R. Aharon reports of the difficulties political parties pose to the rescue enterprises, and states that matters in the United States are being handled in the same way as in Eretz Israel. Only a few individuals are concretely involved in the rescue activities, which the large organizations and various political parties only hamper. R. Aharon complains of the politicians who take credit in the news for the rescue activities, which are in reality carried out discreetly by individuals devotedly operating under Vaad HaHatzala. R. Aharon reports of the packages shipped to Russia, the efforts made on behalf of orphans who reached Teheran and Eretz Israel ("Yaldei Teheran"), matters of Vaad HaYeshivot, and funds sent for various rescue missions. He also mentions the founding of a yeshiva in Lakewood: "…There is a Kollel in Lakewood for the elite Torah scholars of America, exceptional boys and young men, with superior Torah knowledge, intellectual capacities and fear of G-d, and a significant share of my time is devoted to it". He writes that amidst his preoccupation with rescue activities, the yeshiva remains his island of serenity: "My work there in Torah provides me with serenity and relaxation…" (interesting documentation of the early years of the yeshiva, founded in 1943 in Lakewood, NJ, while R. Aharon still resided in Manhattan, NY).
R. Aharon Kotler (1892-1962), a leading yeshiva dean in Lithuania and Poland, in the Slutsk and Kletsk yeshivot. He was one of the founders of Vaad HaYeshivot, and a member of Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah in Lithuania and the United States. During the Holocaust, he escaped to the United States (via Japan), and was very involved in the rescue activities of Vaad HaHatzala, under the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada. He held meetings with senior figures in America, and worked intensively to obtain visas for Holocaust refugees, arrange the expedition of packages to survivors, and run fundraising campaigns in the Jewish communities of the United States. During that time, he also established the famous Lakewood yeshiva in New Jersey (a yeshiva which changed the face of the yeshiva world in the United States, by inculcating its students with the passion and absolute devotion to Torah study, which was typical of Lithuanian yeshivot).
Concurrently, R. Chizkiyahu Yosef Mishkovsky, rabbi of Krinik (Krynki; 1884-1946), directed rescue operations from Eretz Israel and London, assisting war refugees, rescuing rabbis and yeshiva students who had fled to Japan and Shanghai, obtaining visas and certificates for immigration to Eretz Israel, and primarily shipping packages of food and clothes to refugees in Siberia and the Far East.
3 leaves (3 pages). Approx. 28 cm. Thin, brittle paper. Fair condition. Stains and mold. Marginal tears (partially repaired with paper).