Auction 82 - Part I - Judaica – Books, Manuscripts, Rabbinical Letters, Ceremonial Art
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Large collection of certificates reflecting the variety of educational and charitable institutions operating in Eretz Israel (and particularly in Jerusalem) in the first half of the 20th century, as well as their fundraising efforts.
Most leaves are large and elaborately designed - in color or gilt ink, with many decorations, photographs or illustrations, and were sent to donors who supported the institutions. In some cases, an identical design was used by different institutions.
See Hebrew description for a detailed list of the institutions.
55 paper items. Size and condition vary. Overall good condition. Duplicate copies of some items.
Sheet of paper (A3). On the upper part, color lithograph depicting sites in Jerusalem and throughout Eretz Israel, within an architectonic structure. Produced by Jacob Pesach Wigolik and partner.
On the lower part, an additional lithograph, with blessings in Hebrew and German for donors, from R. Mordechai Kohn Glauberman (d. Tevet 1930. His daughter married the renowned maggid R. Ben Tzion Yadler).
30X47 cm. Overall good condition. Tears, folding marks and stains. Tears professionally restored.
Various printed polemic proclamations; proclamations regarding observance of Shabbat and modesty; proclamations regarding kashrut, shechitah and etrogim; proclamations relating to various polemics on communal and private matters; proclamations regarding the breakaway from the Jewish National Council; announcements about sermons and eulogies, Torah scroll inaugurations, various gatherings and national ceremonies; letters and appeals from public institutions (including leaves with the prayer for candle lighting and other prayers); commercial posters; proclamations regarding elections for various organizations and councils; proclamations issued by Agudath Israel and other parties (including proclamations from the early days of Neturei Karta), and more.
The printed proclamations include announcements in the name of leading rabbis in Eretz Israel: R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, R. Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, R. Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, R. Tzvi Pesach Frank, R. Shimshon Aharon Polonsky and others.
Approx. 400 printed items. Size varies, overall good condition. Duplicate copies of some items.
Personal notebook handwritten by R. Aryeh Levin, the Tzaddik of Jerusalem, including his dream diary and various notes. [Jerusalem, 1930s to ca. 1960s].
The notebook, entirely handwritten by R. Aryeh Levin (in tiny script), comprises records of his dreams (11 pages - most of the notebook) and notes on other topics.
The earliest dream is dated 1928, yet it seems that the dreams were recorded in this notebook after 1936. In some of his dreams, R. Aryeh met Torah leaders such as R. Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, the Chazon Ish, R. Tzvi Pesach Frank, R. Isser Zalman Meltzer and R. Yechiel Michel Tucazinsky.
R. Aryeh Levin records a terrifying dream he had on Chanukah 1927, following which he undertook a Taanit Chalom (fast following a bad dream). Later in the day, he met R. Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook and related the dream to him. The latter interpreted it positively and blessed him. When parting, R. Aryeh Levin tripped, breaking his new glasses. Rav Kook took it as a good sign and instructed him to break his fast and rejoice.
Most of the dreams pertain to funerals, eulogies, or meeting the deceased. He once dreamt that he met Rav Kook on Erev Yom Kippur (after the latter's passing) at a rabbinical conference in the great synagogue of Zichron Moshe, and was awed by his glowing countenance. When Rav Kook reminded him that there is a commandment to eat on this day, he answered that he was fully satiated just from seeing his holy appearance. Rav Kook responded in laughter that he must nevertheless eat since the requirement of eating on Erev Yom Kippur cannot be fulfilled through this pleasure.
The rest of the notebook contains various notes handwritten by R. Aryeh: dates of yahrzeits, addresses of acquaintances throughout the world, records of charity funds he was given to distribute, including money he received from R. Yechiel Michel Tucazinsky for the shoe repair fund for schoolboys (see below). Notebook, [13] leaves (approx. 20 written pages).
16 cm. Good condition. Stains. First and final leaves detached.
The Schoolboys' Tattered Shoes
A list with the names of many children who received money for shoe repairs is found on p. [13] of the present notebook, under the title: "Received from R. Yechiel Michel Tucazinsky, 5th Kislev 1939, for the shoe repair fund for schoolboys".
R. Aryeh Levin served as educational supervisor in the Etz Chaim boys' school in Jerusalem. Several stories have been recorded, portraying R. Aryeh Levin's great sensitivity to the suffering of the impoverished children under his care, and his concern for their torn shoes. He would notice how some children arrived to school hungry, in ragged trousers or with tattered shoes. He would discreetly hand them some money to buy shoes, sometimes in guise of a prize for their scholastic success, so as not to embarrass the parents.
The present notebook discloses that these were not isolated incidents of sensitivity and financial assistance to the schoolboys, rather an official fund dedicated to this cause, managed caringly and discretely by the Tzaddik of Jerusalem, R. Aryeh Levin.
Long lists, signed by the sellers or their representatives. Detailed lists of the sellers, the types of items being sold and their precise location are found on the verso of the leaves or in separate notes. Most lists are organized according to neighborhoods (Rehavia, Katamon, Machane Yehuda, Bayit VeGan, Geula, Beit Yisrael, Talpiot, Nachalat Shiva, Givat Shaul, and others). Including records of sale of chametz for neighboring kibbutzim, hospitals and old age homes, institutions and immigration centers, and grocery stores in the transit camps in the Jerusalem corridor (Lifta, Shaar HaGai, Eshtaol and others).
Document recording the sale of the Chametz to the non-Jew "Mustafa Ibrahim Halil, Mukhtar of Beit Safafa", signed by R. Tzvi Pesach Frank, R. Yosef Gershon Horowitz and R. Eli' Re'em.
The hundreds of signatures include many signatures of prominent rabbis and figures, including signatures and inscriptions of: R. Shmuel Yitzchak Hillman, Shai Agnon, R. Elazar Menachem Man Shach (later dean of the Ponovezh yeshiva), R. Shlomo Yosef Zevin, R. Avraham Yitzchak Zalaznik (later dean of the Etz Chaim yeshiva), R. Shlomo Borenstein in the name of R. Chanoch Borenstein (rebbes of Sochatchov in Bayit VeGan), R. Aryeh Levin, R. Simcha Ziskind Broide (later dean of the Hebron yeshiva), R. Betzalel Zolty (later chief rabbi of Jerusalem), and hundreds more (see Hebrew description for more details).
Separate leaf from the Yemenite Beit Din, with 39 signatures.
Approx. 100 leaves. Size and condition vary.
The folder contains various letters and documents (mostly typewritten, with handwritten additions, emendations and signatures), including: letters to and from the society, copies of the society's regulations (in Hebrew and English), protocols of meetings, documents related to the elections for the presidency of the society, and more.
The protocol from Tammuz 1970, recording the election of R. Yehuda Tzadka (dean of the Porat Yosef yeshiva) as president of the society and Chacham Yaakov Ovadia Yosef (father of R. Ovadia Yosef) as vice-president, is signed by all the elected members of the board, including R. Yehuda Tzadka and Chacham Yaakov Ovadia Yosef. Their signatures appear on other documents as well.
A document from 1969 (three typewritten leaves, with many handwritten emendations) is signed by the leading Sephardi rabbis and deans of the Porat Yosef yeshiva - R. Yehuda Tzadka, R. Shabtai Aton, R. Mansour Benshimon and R. Yosef Sharbani.
28 documents (44 leaves, of which 18 leaves in English). Size varies. Overall good condition. Stains, wear and folding marks. The documents are placed in a card folder, inscribed: "Elections 1970 - General Society Ose Hesed".
• Seven telegrams received in Budapest, 1940-1943, from various rabbis, including a telegram sent from Galanta to Budapest in 1942, from R. Yehoshua Buxbaum Rabbi of Galanta (perished in the Holocaust).
• Fourteen "substitute telegrams", including: five telegrams of the Agudath Yisrael Youth movement in Pressburg, seven telegrams of the Marpe LeNefesh organization in Pressburg, telegram of a Jewish old age home in Pressburg, telegram of the rabbinical seminary in Pressburg.
21 telegrams. Size varies. Overall good condition.
• Enclosed: telegram received in Jerusalem in 1950. Sent from Pressburg to "R. Schreiber" (presumably R. Akiva Sofer Schreiber).
The telegrams, which are all related to the Tehran Children affair, voice the protest of the rabbis against the Jewish Agency in Eretz Israel, who arranged for the absorption of the children in secular educational institutions and frameworks. The rabbis demand that the children be transferred to the care of the chief rabbi R. Yitzchak Eizik HaLevi Herzog. The telegrams are signed (in print) by nine rabbis of the UOR, including R. Yaakov Kamenetsky, R. Mordechai Pinchas Teitz, R. Reuven Epstein, R. Yosef Feldman, R. Aryeh Leib Kaplan and others.
[9] telegrams, printed on Western Union and Postal Telegraph telegram forms. Approx. 21X15 cm. Good condition. Stains and minor wear. Minor creases and tears. Inscriptions and ink stamps. Small marginal open tear to one telegram (not affecting text).
The rabbis include: R. Avraham Dov Kahana-Shapira, R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, R. Eliezer Silver, R. Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, R. Akiva Sofer, R. Dov Berish Weidenfeld, R. Tzvi Pesach Frank, R. Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, and others.
Approximately half the telegrams are from the 1930s. In one telegram, the UOR inquires as to the health of R. Kook and wishes him a complete recovery (several months before his passing). In a telegram dated 17th October 1939 (after the outbreak of WWII, before the German conquest of Lithuania) from R. Avraham Dov Kahana-Shapira Rabbi of Kovno, he informs that the rabbis of Vilna are in good health, and requests assistance. Another telegram from Kovno, dated 23rd August 1940, contains an urgent request to secure a visa for R. Zalman Sorotzkin.
19 telegrams. Size and condition vary.
A detailed list of the telegrams will be sent upon request.
• Lengthy telegram (9 pages) from HIJEFS (aid organization for Jewish refugees in foreign countries). Montreux, Switzerland, 5th October 1945. German.
The telegram pertains to the decree against Orthodox communities in Slovakia, and contains a request from R. Chaim Michael Dov Weissmandl that the UOR in America sent a telegram on this topic to Edvard Beneš, president of Czechoslovakia (the text of the telegram to be sent to the president is provided in this telegram, along with the directive of R. Weissmandl to send it as is).
• Lengthy telegram (3 pages) from the chief rabbi of Israel, R. Yitzchak Eizik HaLevi Herzog, to R. Yisrael HaLevi Rosenberg, president of the UOR, regarding the religious needs of Torah-observant Holocaust refugees in Sweden. Jerusalem, 2nd October 1946. English.
• Telegrams from R. Meir Ashkenazi (rabbi of the Shanghai Jewish community) and from the Vaad Hacashrut Bney Yeshiboth in Shanghai with urgent requests for shechitah knives. Shanghai, November 1945. English.
• Telegram from the London Beit Din, requesting confirmation of information about a man who perished in the Holocaust, in order to release his agunah. London, 17th April 1946.
• Telegram from the Central Committee of the Liberated Jews in the U.S. Zone of Germany - invitation to a She'erit Hapletah conference taking place in the Munich city hall on 20th January 1946.
• Telegram presumably sent by a representative of the UOR in the DP camps in German, with a brief report on the refugees' difficult situation. Nuremberg, December 1945.
Enclosed: • Telegram from Gedaliah Bublick, to Emanuel Celler, member of the United States House of Representatives, containing a request that the chief rabbis of Israel, R. Yitzchak Eizik HaLevi Herzog and R. Ben Tzion Uziel addressed to the UOR, that they move heaven and earth to get the United States to intervene on behalf of European Jewry. 2nd October 1943. • "Substitute telegram" in support of She'erit Hapletah aid organization.
[7] telegrams, on Western Union and R.C.A. telegram forms. Up to 21X18 cm. Good condition. Stains and minor wear. Creases and tears. Margins of one telegram trimmed. Inscriptions and ink stamps.
The letters include:
• Letter from the Vaad HaKashrut of Shanghai, with a request for shechitah knives. Signed by R. Efraim Mordechai Ginsburg (eldest son-in-law of R. Yechezkel Levenstein) - on behalf of the kollelim; R. Aryeh Leib Malin - on behalf of the Mir yeshiva; R. Gershon Chanowitz - on behalf of the Lubavitch yeshiva; R. Ben Tzion Kalman Gleizel Rabbi of Tuchyn - on behalf of the rabbis; R. Mordechai Yehuda Lubart - on behalf the Lublin yeshiva.
• Two letters from R. Meir Ashkenazi, rabbi of Shanghai.
• Two letters from Emil Wiehl to Mrs. Hendler of Canada. Description of the state of the refugees in Shanghai, and report of his activities on behalf of Mrs. Hendler. English.
• Other letters, both private and communal.
13 letters, and other paper items (envelopes, lists, photograph). Size and condition vary. Overall good condition.
The court ruling begins with the account of the disappearance of Rebbetzin Batsheva Rokeach, who travelled in 1941 with her daughter to Kobryn. In the summer of 1942, the eradication of the Jews of Kobryn was already publicized, and according to information which reached the organization of Kobryn Immigrants - of the thousands of Jews living in Kobryn before the Holocaust, only a few survived.
The signatories are headed by the dayanim of the Beit Din of Chassidim in Jerusalem: R. Yerucham Fischel Bernstein, R. Naftali Tzvi Schmerler and R. Yisrael Yitzchak HaLevi Reisman, followed by dozens more signatures (on both sides of the page) - from rabbis, rebbes, and young Torah scholars of Jerusalem, including: R. Yosef Meir Kahane (Rebbe of Spinka); R. Chanoch Dov Padwa (later rabbi of the Union of Orthodox communities in London); R. Avraham Yitzchak Kohn (later Rebbe of Toldot Aharon); R. Avraham Chaim Roth (later Rebbe of Shomrei Emunim); R. Shalom Safrin (Rebbe of Komarna) and others.
R. Mordechai Rokeach, Rebbe of Biłgoraj (1901-1949), son of Rebbe Yissachar Dov of Belz. During the Holocaust, he managed to flee to Hungary together with his brother the Belzer rebbe and from there to Eretz Israel, where they together rebuilt the Belz Chassidut. In 1946, upon receiving word that his wife and children were murdered in the Holocaust, he tried to obtain a Heter Me'a Rabbanim. He remarried Rebbetzin Miriam (Glick, from the city of Satmar) and passed away shortly thereafter. His only son from that marriage, the present Belzer Rebbe, was born in Shevat 1948.
3 pages. 32.5 cm. [2] typewritten pages, and one and a half pages with the handwritten signatures of 115 rabbis and rebbes. Good-fair condition. Water damage.