Auction 58 - Rare and Important Items
Autograph Letter Signed by the Rebbe Rayatz of Lubavitch - From his Youth, in the Lifetime of his Father the Rashab - Regarding the Importance and Role of a Rabbi of the Jewish People
Opening: $1,500
Sold for: $6,000
Including buyer's premium
Autograph letter signed by R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn of Lubavitch-Chabad - the Rayatz. Babinavichy (near Lubavitch), 1909.
The first section was written by a scribe and is followed by a long section [6 lines] handwritten and signed by the Rayatz from his youth, before he became rebbe, in the lifetime of his father the Rashab.
Sent to R. Baruch Chaim Paktorowitz with a request to appoint R. Aharon Tumarkin to the rabbinate. The Rayatz writes that he heard that they required a rabbi and he requests that "He should make an effort to appoint one of our esteemed excellent disciples M. Aharon Tumarkin who was educated to fear [of Heaven] and [G-d's] service under the supervision of my father the Rebbe".
The Rayatz ends the letter in his own handwriting. Among other things, he expounds upon the paramount importance of the role of a rabbi of a community: "The rabbi of each city is the central pillar upon which all the institutes of religion and chessed rely in all public and religious matters. Experience has taught us that the Rabbi's involvement and opinion and supervision greatly impacts the soul, such as in matters pertaining to the mikvah, to Shabbat observance, and all matters to the extent that the G-d fearing and gifted person can find the way to the hearts of those who hear him that they should heed him. The holy nation loves charity and justice and heed words of truth! …Yosef Yitzchak…".
Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn of Lubavitch-Chabad, the Rayatz (1880-1950, Otzar HaRabbanim 8887), the sixth Rebbe of the Lubavitch-Chabad dynasty, was appointed Rebbe in 1920. In the lifetime of his father, the Rashab, he began his leadership role as his father's close assistant (already at the age of 15, he joined his father at rabbinic conventions which took place in Russia and in Europe). After his father's death, he served as Rebbe and leader of Chabad Chassidism which continued its activities with utter devotion and self-sacrifice under the Communist rule. His Jewish activities in Communist Russia landed him in prison several times. His last imprisonment was in 1927 at which time he was sentenced to death. Due to international pressure, he was released on the 12th of Tamuz (hence, this date is celebrated by Chabad Chassidim as Chag HaGe'ula). After his release, he immigrated to Poland and the outbreak of WWII in 1939 found him in Warsaw. Chabad Chassidim in the US initiated attempts to rescue him from Poland. After involving senior American officials and with the assistance of the head of Intelligence of the German Army, the Rayatz and his family were smuggled from Poland into Riga, from there to Stockholm, finally arriving in the US (in Adar Bet 1940). A short while after he immigrated to the US, he purchased the 770 building in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY which became his residence in his later years and the quarters of the worldwide Chabad center. In the US, the Rayatz established the central institutes of Chabad Chassidism - "The center for education", "Machane Yisrael" and the Kehot (Karnei Hod Torah) Publication Society and the center of the Tomchei Temimim Yeshivas. His son-in-law was R. Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch, the last Chabad Rebbe.
The subject of the letter, R. Aharon Tumarkin was a prominent Chabad elder in Russia. He served as rabbi of several cities. Several years after his marriage (in 1907), he served in the Babinavichy (Vitebsk region) rabbinate and later relocated to serve as Rabbi of Svencionys, Lithuania. Later, in 1914, by the behest of the Rebbe the Rashab he was appointed to the Khotsimsk (Mogilev region) rabbinate. In 1918, he became Rabbi of Kharkiv and was the city's last rabbi under the Communist rule. This letter was written about a year after R. Tumarkin's marriage and portrays the efforts of the Rebbe the Rayatz (at his father's behest) to provide him with a rabbinical position. We do not know to which city or town this letter was sent.
Leaf, 27 cm. Fair condition. Wear and many tears to margins and folding creases (some glued for restoration), affecting text (also affecting the Rebbe's signature in the margin).
The first section was written by a scribe and is followed by a long section [6 lines] handwritten and signed by the Rayatz from his youth, before he became rebbe, in the lifetime of his father the Rashab.
Sent to R. Baruch Chaim Paktorowitz with a request to appoint R. Aharon Tumarkin to the rabbinate. The Rayatz writes that he heard that they required a rabbi and he requests that "He should make an effort to appoint one of our esteemed excellent disciples M. Aharon Tumarkin who was educated to fear [of Heaven] and [G-d's] service under the supervision of my father the Rebbe".
The Rayatz ends the letter in his own handwriting. Among other things, he expounds upon the paramount importance of the role of a rabbi of a community: "The rabbi of each city is the central pillar upon which all the institutes of religion and chessed rely in all public and religious matters. Experience has taught us that the Rabbi's involvement and opinion and supervision greatly impacts the soul, such as in matters pertaining to the mikvah, to Shabbat observance, and all matters to the extent that the G-d fearing and gifted person can find the way to the hearts of those who hear him that they should heed him. The holy nation loves charity and justice and heed words of truth! …Yosef Yitzchak…".
Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn of Lubavitch-Chabad, the Rayatz (1880-1950, Otzar HaRabbanim 8887), the sixth Rebbe of the Lubavitch-Chabad dynasty, was appointed Rebbe in 1920. In the lifetime of his father, the Rashab, he began his leadership role as his father's close assistant (already at the age of 15, he joined his father at rabbinic conventions which took place in Russia and in Europe). After his father's death, he served as Rebbe and leader of Chabad Chassidism which continued its activities with utter devotion and self-sacrifice under the Communist rule. His Jewish activities in Communist Russia landed him in prison several times. His last imprisonment was in 1927 at which time he was sentenced to death. Due to international pressure, he was released on the 12th of Tamuz (hence, this date is celebrated by Chabad Chassidim as Chag HaGe'ula). After his release, he immigrated to Poland and the outbreak of WWII in 1939 found him in Warsaw. Chabad Chassidim in the US initiated attempts to rescue him from Poland. After involving senior American officials and with the assistance of the head of Intelligence of the German Army, the Rayatz and his family were smuggled from Poland into Riga, from there to Stockholm, finally arriving in the US (in Adar Bet 1940). A short while after he immigrated to the US, he purchased the 770 building in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY which became his residence in his later years and the quarters of the worldwide Chabad center. In the US, the Rayatz established the central institutes of Chabad Chassidism - "The center for education", "Machane Yisrael" and the Kehot (Karnei Hod Torah) Publication Society and the center of the Tomchei Temimim Yeshivas. His son-in-law was R. Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch, the last Chabad Rebbe.
The subject of the letter, R. Aharon Tumarkin was a prominent Chabad elder in Russia. He served as rabbi of several cities. Several years after his marriage (in 1907), he served in the Babinavichy (Vitebsk region) rabbinate and later relocated to serve as Rabbi of Svencionys, Lithuania. Later, in 1914, by the behest of the Rebbe the Rashab he was appointed to the Khotsimsk (Mogilev region) rabbinate. In 1918, he became Rabbi of Kharkiv and was the city's last rabbi under the Communist rule. This letter was written about a year after R. Tumarkin's marriage and portrays the efforts of the Rebbe the Rayatz (at his father's behest) to provide him with a rabbinical position. We do not know to which city or town this letter was sent.
Leaf, 27 cm. Fair condition. Wear and many tears to margins and folding creases (some glued for restoration), affecting text (also affecting the Rebbe's signature in the margin).