Auction 95 Early Printed Books, Chassidut and Kabbalah, Letters and Manuscripts, Engravings and Jewish Ceremonial Objects
- (-) Remove letter filter letter
- and (49) Apply and filter
- manuscript (28) Apply manuscript filter
- chassidut (17) Apply chassidut filter
- dean (16) Apply dean filter
- lithuania (16) Apply lithuania filter
- of (16) Apply of filter
- rabbi (16) Apply rabbi filter
- russia (16) Apply russia filter
- yeshivah (16) Apply yeshivah filter
- central (14) Apply central filter
- document (14) Apply document filter
- eretz (14) Apply eretz filter
- europ (14) Apply europ filter
- germani (14) Apply germani filter
- hungari (14) Apply hungari filter
- hungary, (14) Apply hungary, filter
- israel (14) Apply israel filter
- manuscripts, (14) Apply manuscripts, filter
- chabad (10) Apply chabad filter
- rebb (10) Apply rebb filter
- erit (5) Apply erit filter
- hapletah (5) Apply hapletah filter
- holocaust (5) Apply holocaust filter
- item (5) Apply item filter
- print (5) Apply print filter
- she (5) Apply she filter
- she'erit (5) Apply she'erit filter
- sheerit (5) Apply sheerit filter
Collection of 41 postcards sent to R. Dr. Chaim Brody, Rabbi of Prague – with 54 signatures of rabbis who joined the Heter Meah Rabbanim – rabbis and Beit Dins from various countries across Europe. Nisan-Elul 1922.
Reply cards in lithographic print, assenting to permit Shmuel Tzvi son of David to remarry. On the outer side of the postcard is printed the name and address of the recipient, R. Chaim Brody.
The signatories on the postcards include R. Isser Zalman Meltzer and his court, Slutsk; R. Shlomo Grünfeld and his court, Munkacs; the Beit Din of London, with six signatories, including R. Joseph Hertz, R. Moshe Avigdor Chaikin, R. Shmuel Yitzchak Hillman, and more; R. Yosef Tzvi Carlebach, Hamburg; R. Aharon Neuwirth, Halberstadt; R. Pinchas Wolf and his court, Cologne; R. Meir Hildesheimer, Berlin; R. Yosef Wohlgemuth, Berlin; R. Yaakov Posen, Frankfurt; R. Binyamin May, Frankfurt; R. Yissachar Behr, Prenzlau; R. Yisrael Broda, Michalovce; R. Avraham Aryeh Kurzweil of Pressburg, Brtnice (Moravia); R. Zalman Jacobowitz, Lackenbach; R. Yosef Rosenfeld, Chernivtsi; R. Aryeh Leibish Lichtig, Hamburg; R. Yitzchak Rosel, Tilsit (Sovetsk); and more.
The Heter Meah Rabbanim (permission of a hundred rabbis) was granted in cases when it was necessary to permit a man to marry a second wife, when his first wife becomes incapacitated or runs off, under certain halachic conditions. One of the conditions is that the permitting rabbis be of different countries.
R. Chaim Brody, chief rabbi of Prague, corresponded with rabbis from all over the world, and for this reason addressed dozens of rabbis from different countries with a detailed responsum to explain the Heter, enclosing a reply card to endorse it.
The recipient of the present postcards, R. Dr. Chaim (Heinrich) Brody (1868-1942), chief rabbi of Prague. Born in Ungvár, where he was taught by his father R. Shlomo Zalman Broda, and his grandfather R. Shlomo Ganzfried, both dayanim in the city. He studied in the Pressburg yeshiva, and later in R. Hildesheimer's Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin. Served as Rabbi of Náchod, later succeeding his father-in-law R. Nathan Ehrenfeld as Chief Rabbi of Prague. He specialized in the study of manuscripts from the Rishonim, and was known as one of the most prominent researchers of Spanish Jewry's medieval poetry. He immigrated to Jerusalem in 1934, where he directed Salman Schocken's Institute for the Research of Hebrew Poetry.
41 postcards. 14x9 cm. Varying condition. Some contain postage stamps and postmarks. Some postcards contain open tears (due to removal of postage stamps), affecting text.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Assorted collection of over 40 letters of rabbis from various countries: Germany, Hungary, Poland, Galicia, United States and elsewhere. [Ca. 1861-1961].
• Letter of R. Mendel Koretz, dayan in Liptovský Mikuláš. Liptovský Mikuláš, Iyar 1861.
• Letter of R. Moshe HaLevi Silberman (son of R. Naftali Hertzka of Ratzfert). Ratzfert, Tishrei 1910.
• Letter of R. Shlomo Tzvi HaKohen Strasser, Rabbi of the Orthodox community in Debrecen. Debrecen, 1925.
• Letter of R. Aharon Ausch, Rabbi of Lupeni [son-in-law of the Tal Chaim of Liska]. Grosswardein (Oradea), [after the Holocaust, ca. 1946-1947].
• Lengthy letter of R. Yoel Wolf Glattstein, Rabbi of Helmec (Kráľovský Chlmec). Helmec, 1939.
• Letter of R. Moshe Spitzer, dayan in Munkacs (served on the Beit Din of the Darchei Teshuvah). Munkacs, 1910.
• Letter of R. Tzvi Hirsch Perls, Rabbi of Kittsee. Kittsee, [ca. 1920s].
• Letter of R. Fishel Sofer-Süssman, dayan in Budapest, 1935.
• Letter of R. Yehudah Leib Tsirelson, Rabbi of Chișinău – on a copy of a letter by R. Chaim Ozer of Vilna. Chișinău, 1938.
• Letter of R. Chaim Mordechai Roller, Rabbi of Neamț. Neamț, 1930.
• Letter of R. Moshe Tuviah Tal, Rabbi of the Hague. The Hague (Holland), Elul 1898.
• Letter of R. Yitzchak Shmuel, head of the Oslo Beit Din. Oslo, 1933.
• Letter of R. Dov Ber Zeitlin. Paris, 1891.
• Letter of R. Yair Peterseil, Rabbi of the Polish community in Berlin. Jerusalem, 1938.
• Letter of R. David Katz Neuwirth, dayan in Eperjes (Prešov). Prešov, 1927.
• Letter of R. David Feldman, Rabbi of the Orthodox community in Leipzig. Leipzig, 1921.
• Letter of R. Yosef Gelernter, Rabbi of Brussels. Brussels, 1936.
• Letter of R. Chaim Yaakov Widerwitz of Moscow, head of the Kollel in New York. New York, 1909.
• Letter of R. Shalom Israelson, a rabbi in Chicago. Cleveland, Ohio, 1911.
• Letter of R. Yehudah Leib Levin. Detroit (United States), Cheshvan 1913.
• Letter of R. Shlomo Yitzchak Levin. Indianapolis, Indiana (United States). Elul, 1920.
• Letter of R. Alter Shaul Pfeffer, Rabbi of the Beit Midrash HaGadol. New York, 1924.
• Letter of R. Moshe Shimon Sivitz. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (United States), 1928.
• Letter of R. Shmuel HaLevi Levin. Hamilton (Canada), Cheshvan 1935.
• Letter of R. Yosef Feimer (the second) of Slutsk. Boro Park, Brooklyn, Elul 1932.
• Letter of R. Shlomo Yehudah Leib HaLevi Levitan. Rock Island, Illinois. United States, 1936.
• Letter of R. Shaul Leib Morgenstern. Liberty, New York, 1938.
• Letter of R. Yekutiel Yehudah Greenwald. Columbus, Ohio, [ca. 1940s].
• And more.
42 letters. Most on official stationery. Size and Condition varies.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Assorted collection of over 30 interesting letters from rabbis who served communities in Hungary, Romania and other countries in the region. [1890s-1940s].
The collection includes:
• Letter of R. Moshe Hirsch Fuchs, Rabbi of Grosswardein (Oradea), 1899.
• Letter of R. Koppel Krauss, Rabbi of Ács, 1895.
• Letter of R. Yoel Wolf Glattstein, Rabbi of Helmec (Kráľovský Chlmec), 1933.
• Letter of R. Shlomo Yehudah Weinberger, Rabbi of Nyírbogát, 1929.
• Letter of R. Meir Leib Frei, Rabbi of Šurany, 1938.
• Letter of R. Koppel Reich, head of Budapest Beit Din, regarding a case involving his son-in-law and the dayan R. Yaakov Shalom Sofer of Budapest.
• Letter of R. Chaim Yehudah Ehrenreich, Rabbi of Deva, [ca. 1927].
• Letter of R. Moshe Aryeh Roth, Rabbi of Pápa, 1904.
• Six letters of R. Yechezkel Bennett, Rabbi of Seini [grandson of R. Shlomo Ganzfried, author of Kitzur Shulchan Aruch]. Seini, 1895-1909.
• Letter on Torah matters of R. Elimelech Friedlander (son of R. Yehudah Friedlander, Rabbi of Borgóprund (Prundu Bârgăului). Borgóprund, 1903.
• Letter of R. Shmuel Binyamin Sofer, Rabbi of Derecske, 1909.
• Letter of R. Chaim Yosef Grünbaum, Hosasău, 1896.
• Letter of R. Yehoshua Falk Ze'ev Wolfson, Rabbi of Fălticeni, [1902?].
• Letter of R. Avraham Aryeh Rosen, Rabbi of Fălticeni, [1931].
• Letter of R. Chaim Mordechai Roller, Rabbi of Neamț, 1925.
• Letter of R. Yitzchak Shapiro, Rabbi of Galați, 1936.
• Letter of R. Moshe Sofer, a head of the Galicia Kollel. Boryslav, 1937.
• Letter of R. Moshe Deutsch (son of the Pri HaSadeh of Bonyhád). Subotica, 1935.
• Letter of R. Yitzchak Michael Dushinsky, Rabbi of Rákospalota. 1935.
• Letter of R. Yehudah Leib HaKohen Fishman [Maimon; later Minister of Religion in Israel]. Mărculești (Bessarabia), 1899.
• Letter of R. Mosher Berger, a rabbi of Bucharest, 1937.
• Letter of R. Gavriel Tzvi HaKohen Steiner. Paks, [ca. 1910s-1930s].
• Two letters of R. Binyamin Ze'ev Benedict of Vienna, regarding immigrating to Eretz Israel, after his flight from Austria to Slovakia. Pressburg, [autumn 1938].
• Shanah Tovah letter by R. Yochanan Sofer. Erlau (Eger), September 1945.
• Letter of R. Ze'ev Wolf HaLevi Samet, a rabbi in Kleinwardein (Kisvárda), [ca. 1946].
• Letter of R. Yisrael Welz, head of Budapest Beit Din. Jerusalem, 1950.
32 letters. Some on official stationery and some on postcards. Size and Condition varies.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Large assorted collection of over fifty letters on postcards, handwritten and signed by rabbis and Torah scholars from Hungary and the region (Romania, Transylvania, Czechoslovakia and central Europe). Ca. first half of 20th century.
The collection includes letters from the following rabbis:
• R. Shalom Wieder, Rabbi of Nyíregyháza. • Rebbe Chaim Rabinowitz. Bucharest. • R. Yitzchak Fränkel of Khust, a dayan in Jerusalem. • R. Yoel Tzvi Roth (on a Shanah Tovah card), Kleinwardein (Kisvárda). • R. Yitzchak Tzvi Sofer of Paks. • R. Yitzchak Tigerman, Rabbi of Bekescsaba. • R. Chaim Mordechai Roller, Rabbi of Neamț. • R. Yosef HaKohen Schwartz of Grosswardein (Oradea), author of Vaylaket Yosef (4 letters). • R. Shlomo Zalman Broda, dayan in Ungvár – son-in-law of R. Shlomo Ganzfried (4 letters). • R. Eliezer Segal Mishel, Rabbi of Turka (two letters). • R. Yaakov Yitzchak Neuman, head of the Beit Din of Pápa and Antwerp. • R. Chaim Yehudah Ehrenreich, Rabbi of Humenné. • R. Yehudah Kohen Krauss, Rabbi of Lackenbach (2 letters). • R. Shimon Krauss, Rabbi of Ács (3 letters). • R. Yaakov Segal Leibowitz, Rabbi of Kaposvár and a rabbi of Budapest. • And many more letters.
55 letters on postcards. Varying size and condition.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Manuscript poem, in honor of "the famous philanthropist R. Hertz", written by R. Natan Feitel son of R. Yitzchak of Vilna. [Vilna, 1819.]
Written on double leaf. On the outer page is a frame with fine decorations (embossed). In the center of the page is an illustration of the Tablets of the Law and a micrographic "Crown of Torah". At the bottom of the page, in minute letters, is the colophon of the writer.
On the inner page appears the poem, with the acrostic "the famous philanthropist R. Hertz".
We do not know who the philanthropist is for whom the poem was written, nor do we have details on the writer.
[1] double leaf. Good-fair condition. Stains. Minute tears. Placed in a new case.
Provenance: Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, EE.011.009.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Letter handwritten and signed by R. Eliyahu Levinson. Memel (Prussia; today: Klaipėda, Lithuania), Tevet 1863.
Sent to Jerusalem, to his friend R. Shmuel Salant and member of his court R. Binyamin David of Vilna. Letter regarding sending funds to Jerusalem, to public institutions and private individuals.
In the margins of the leaf is an additional letter, also handwritten and signed by R. Eliyahu, to his uncle R. Yechiel Ichel who lived in Jerusalem.
R. Eliyahu (Elinke) of Kretinga (1822-1888), studied in his youth in Salant under R. Yosef Zundel of Salant, during which time he became the close friend and disciple of R. Yisrael Salanter and R. Shmuel Salant. He remained the close disciple of R. Yisrael his whole life, was his close attendant in public activism and a staunch proponent of the Musar movement founded by R. Yisrael Salanter. Though he was one of the prominent Torah scholars of his generation, he refused to serve as rabbi and dealt in trade and banking. R. Elinke was a foremost leader of Russian Jewry and a leading lobbyist in the upper echelons of the government. He was an administrator and trustee of the Eretz Israel funds for over forty years.
[1] leaf. 28 cm. Thin, bluish stationery. Good condition. Stains. Folds.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Letter (3 pages) handwritten and signed by R. Yaakov Yosef, Rav HaKolel (chief rabbi). New York, 1890.
Sent to R. Azriel Hildesheimer in Berlin, on the occasion of his 70th birthday. R. Yaakov Yosef blesses him to reach a ripe old age. He goes on to tell of the passing of R. Hirsch Zak, the president of the Association of Congregations in New York, describing him as a God-fearing and honest person who shared his money generously. He goes on to discuss appointing a reliable person as a mashgiach to help him repair the kosher system in the United States.
R. Yaakov Yosef (1841-1902), a leading Lithuanian Torah scholar, appointed in his later years as Chief Rabbi in New York (the first and last rabbi to serve as chief rabbi of New York or any other state).
A prominent disciple of R. Yisrael Salanter, he served in the rabbinates of Veliuona, Jurbarkas and New Žagarė, and was later appointed orator and head posek of Vilna. In 1888, he was appointed chief rabbi of New York by the Association of Congregations who sought an illustrious personage to bolster Torah observance in the United States. Upon his arrival in the United States, R. Yaakov Yosef established and consolidated all religious requirements of the Jewish community, and he founded the first yeshiva in the United States.
[1] double leaf (containing [3] written pages). 19 cm. Good condition.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Three responsa queries sent to R. Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin (the Netziv), Rabbi and yeshiva dean of Volozhin.
• Lengthy letter (4 pages) to the Netziv from his student R. Shlomo Zalman Ginzburg. [Byalynichy], [15 Sivan], 1891. Contains halachic question on various topics in the halachot of shechita and terefot. Apologizing for disturbing his teacher but underlining its necessity, he asks a few questions about the laws of terefot. Over its course, he also asks the Netziv whether the rumor he heard is true that the Netziv had retracted one of his halachic decisions in Haamek Shealah.
[1] double leaf (containing 4 written pages). 21 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains, tears and folds, repaired with tape. Worming, slightly affecting text.
• Letter to the Netziv from his student R. Efraim Binyamin son of Avraham of Uzda, studying in Vievis, who sends his teacher Torah thoughts from tractate Bava Batra. Vievis, [ca. 1880s-1890s]. With enclosed booklet of Torah novellae on inheritance (the beginning of the booklet is missing, and only the letter and the two last pages of the booklet remain).
[1] double leaf (containing 3 written pages), 33 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Tears and folds.
• Lengthy letter to the Netziv, by R. Lima son of Yaakov Pitikovski, prayer leader and shochet in Trachtenberg (Żmigród, Silesia), [1892]. Halachic query on the laws of idolatry asked by a poor person in his city who produced gravestones for gentiles, asking whether it was permitted to place a Christian symbol on the gravestone. He goes on to write about matters of public advocacy against persecution of Jews, and the Netziv's efforts in the matter.
[1] leaf. 28.5 cm. Written on both sides. Fair-good condition. Stains, tears and folds, repaired with tape, including open tears, affecting text in some places.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Collection of over 30 letters sent to R. Chaim Berlin, Rabbi of Moscow, Kobryn, Yelisavetgrad and Jerusalem. Many of them deal with Torah matters and halachic and public questions.
The letters include:
• Letter from R. Avraham Hoffenberg, Rabbi of Vaškai, lament for the passing of his teacher the Netziv of Volozhin. Vaškai (Panevėžys county), [Elul 1893].
• Letter (on official postcard by R. Moshe Nachum Yerushalimsky, Rabbi of Kielce. [Tevet 1904].
• Letter of R. Moshe Yaakov Grinbarg, Rabbi of Radzin. Radzin, 1886.
• Letter of R. Bentzion, rabbi and posek in Radzin, [1881].
• Letter of the shochet R. Menachem Nachum Yoselman of Shklow, 1881.
• Letter of R. Gershon son of Reuven, Rabbi of Quba (Azerbaijan), Cheshvan 1880.
• Four letters by R. Mordechai Friedman of Międzyrzec Podlaski [author of Poteach Davar]. Międzyrzec Podlaski, [1888-1889/1904].
• Letter of R. Yehudah Leib HaKohen, Rabbi of Jonava. [1896].
• Letter of R. Yehudah Lieberman, Samara, [ca. 1880s-1890s].
• Letter (2 pages excluding signature leaf), regarding receiving R. Chaim Berlin as Rabbi of Kobryn. [1890s, ca. 1893].
• Two letters on postcards by R. Dov Aryeh Ritter, Rabbi of Rotterdam. Rotterdam, 1895.
• Letter of R. Yosef HaKohen Fendler, Rabbi of Dunaivtsi. 1901.
• Letter of R. Aryeh Leib Frumkin and R. Yitzchak Sovalsky. Nisan 1902.
• Letter of R. Yehudah Yudel Nastaskin, Rabbi of Smila (Ukraine), [Kislev 1903].
• Letter of R. Yosef Rotman (son of R. Moshe Rabbi of Horodyshche). [Smila, 1899].
• Letter of R. Aharon HaLevi Goldman, Rabbi of Moisés Ville. Argentina, 1909.
• Letter and halachic responsum by R. Levi Yitzchak HaKohen Navidovitz, Rabbi of Raška, [ca. 1890s].
• Letter of R. Ze'ev Wolf Vishniak. Moscow, 1902.
• Two letters of R. Alter Heller Brody. Warsaw, [1895].
• Letter of R. Avraham son of Moshe Temkin. Siedlce, 1903.
• Letter of R. Yisrael Moshe Goldberg, Rabbi of Myrhorod (Kherson region), Adar 1903.
• Document of sale of chametz handwritten by R. Chaim Berlin, Yelisavetgrad, Nisan 1905.
• Letter of R. Meir Freiman. New York, 1910; and more letters and copies of letters.
Over 30 letters comprising over 40 leaves. Size and condition Vary. Overall good condition.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Large assorted collection of letters of rabbis from Russia and Ukraine. Ca. late 19th and early 20th century, including some 14 letters to R. Chaim Berlin, Rabbi of Moscow, Yelisavetgrad (Kropyvnytskyi) and Jerusalem.
30 letters. Varying size and condition. Most in good condition.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
![Letter from R. Baruch Ber Leibowitz, dean of the Knesset Beit Yitzchak yeshiva in Kamenets. [Kamenets, 1930s].
Letter in Yid](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale95/301.jpg "Letter of Blessings and Thanks from Rabbi Baruch Ber Leibowitz – Kamen")
Letter from R. Baruch Ber Leibowitz, dean of the Knesset Beit Yitzchak yeshiva in Kamenets. [Kamenets, 1930s].
Letter in Yiddish addressed to the Feigin family in Philadelphia, United States, donors of the yeshiva. R. Baruch Ber showers them with many blessings and thanks for their generous support of the yeshiva, describes the learning conditions in the yeshiva and how many students came from America to study in the yeshiva, including some likely to be the next generation's scholars.
The letter is mostly typewritten, and concludes with about 6 lines of warm and heartfelt blessings handwritten by the yeshiva's dean R. Baruch Ber Leibowitz.
R. Baruch Dov (Ber) Leibowitz (1864-1940), author of Birkat Shmuel, a leading Torah educator, was a disciple of R. Chaim of Brisk in the Volozhin yeshiva. He established a yeshiva in Hlusk, and later headed the Knesset Beit Yitzchak yeshiva in Slabodka. During World War I, he followed the displaced yeshiva to Minsk, Kremenchuk and Vilna, finally settling in Kamenets. He authored Birkat Shmuel, a classic Talmudic work of in-depth yeshiva study.
[2] leaves, official stationery. Approx. 27.5 cm. Good condition. Stains and folds.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Letter on postcard, handwritten and signed by R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski; with several additional lines handwritten and signed by R. Chizkiyahu Yosef Yitzchak Mishkovski. Vilna, 4 Adar I, 1913.
Sent to Berlin, to the emissaries of the "General Committee" R. Tzvi Hirsch Salant and R. Rivlin. R. Chaim Ozer writes that R. Mishkovski was to travel to Jerusalem, and tersely mentions some matters he dealt with, apparently also for the Eretz Israel fund.
R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski (1863-1940) was a foremost rabbi of his generation and leader of European Jewry. A disciple of R. Chaim of Brisk, he was appointed rabbi and posek of Vilna at the age of 24. He assumed the yoke of public leadership from a young age, and for close to fifty years, his opinion was conclusive on all public matters. This letter shows how already as a young rabbi (under the age of 50), R. Chaim Ozer took on responsibility in communal affairs.
R. Chizkiyahu Yosef Yitzchak Mishkovski (1884-1946), Rabbi of Krynki, immigrated to Jerusalem in 1904 and kept the company of his renowned father-in-law R. Yitzchak Blazer, whose position as leader of the Vilna Kollel and General Committee he assumed upon his death. In 1913 he left Israel in connection with appointing a new rabbi for the Ashkenazi community in Jerusalem (the present letter was written during this period), where he stayed (despite his plan to return to Jerusalem mentioned by R. Chaim Ozer in the present letter), and was appointed Rabbi of Krynki after World War I. During and after the Holocaust he was active in rescue efforts and establishing Torah worldwide.
Postcard, 14x9 cm. Good condition. Stains. Postmarks (one postage stamp detached).
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.