Collection of rabbinic letters and draft letters from R. Yaakov Landau, regarding the establishment of a religious council in Bnei Brak. Sivan-Av, 1964.
The collection includes two letters from R. Pinchas Epstein, head of the Edah HaCharedit Beit Din in Jerusalem; two letters from R. Avraham Shlomo Katz - rabbi of the Satmar community in Bnei Brak; and draft letters and photocopies of letters which R. Yaakov Landau sent to various rebbes and rabbis.
In 1964, the Ministry of Religions announced the establishment of a religious council in Bnei Brak, without coordinating the move with the rabbis of the city. This aroused a great polemic involving rabbis and rebbes worldwide (see sidebar of item 429). The present letters shed much light on this affair.
For a detailed list of letters, see Hebrew description.
13 paper items, official stationery. Size and condition vary.

The Rebbe of Satmar and His Involvement in the Bnei Brak Religious Council Polemic
The Orthodox city of Bnei Brak was unique since it's founding for its independent rabbinate. Unlike other cities, Bnei Brak never had a religious council - the rabbis received their salaries directly from the municipality, and all kashrut and religious services in Bnei Brak were funded directly by the municipality, without the involvement of a third, governmental party such as a religious council. In other places, all religious services were under the control and supervision of the religious council, which in those days was under the Ministry of Religions, led by members of the Mizrachi movement.
Bnei Brak was also the only city in Eretz Israel were Satmar Chassidim participated in the municipal elections, with the approval of Rebbe Yoel of Satmar, fierce opponent of any cooperation with the Zionist government, and with the approval of the rabbi of Riskeva, rabbi of the Satmar community in the city. The main reason for this exception was the necessity to maintain the independence of the Bnei Brak rabbinate, and to preserve the power of R. Landau and his colleagues who upheld proper Torah observance.
In the summer of 1964, the Ministry of Religions established a religious council in Bnei Brak. Knowing that the Orthodox community would not passively accept this move, it was done in an underhanded way, on paper only. A notice from the Ministry of Religions was published in the HaTzofeh newspaper, announcing the establishment of the religious council headed by 12 members lead by R. Yaakov Landau Rabbi of the city. The notice was published without the knowledge of the new council members, and without a prior notification. This placed them in a difficult position - on the one hand R. Landau and his colleagues did not wish to cooperate with the establishment of a religious council led by the Ministry of Religions, yet on the other, if they would renounce their positions, the Ministry of Religions would appoint other members to the council instead, and they would thus lose their control over the religious services in the city.
At the beginning of Tammuz 1964, R. Landau sent a letter to the rebbe of Satmar, explaining at length why his resignation from the religious council would wreak havoc on the religious services in Bnei Brak (in this lot). The rebbe of Satmar sent him a sharp letter in response (see item 429), to which R. Landau replied with another letter, in Av 1964, in which he clarifies certain points (in this lot).