Auction 75 - Rare and Important Items
Draft of a General Letter by the Lubavitcher Rebbe – Erev Rosh Hashanah, Hakhel Year 5713 – Signed with His Name and the Name of His Mother "Menachem Mendel Son of Chana Schneersohn"
Opening: $1,000
Estimate: $2,000 - $3,000
Sold for: $5,250
Including buyer's premium
Draft of a general letter by Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneersohn – the Lubavitcher Rebbe, with his handwritten signature. Brooklyn NY, 18th Elul 1952 (Erev Rosh Hashanah, Hakhel Year 5713). Yiddish.
Typewritten on thin paper, and signed with the rebbe's full signature " Menachem Mendel son of Chana Schneersohn", with many additions and emendations. The rebbe crossed out the printed date, "First day of Selichot", and corrected the date in his handwriting to "Chai [18th] Elul".
The rebbe begins the general letter, addressed to " Our brothers and sisters, Jewish sons and daughters" with blessings for a good year: "As we stand on the threshold of a new year, 5713… I send my blessing for a good and sweet year, to all our brothers and sisters, Jewish sons and daughters wherever they are", and he arouses them with the approach of upcoming Hakhel year: "In these days, at the close of the past year and at the threshold of the coming year, let every Jewish father and mother, every rabbi and leader, every communal worker and person of influence, heed the call of the Mitzvah of Hakhel… to gather the masses of Jewish children and bring them to the Yeshivot, Talmud Torahs and Torah-true educational institutions; and by means of generous charity, to support of true Torah institutions and ensure their existence and growth, in order that all Jewish children boys and girl be brought up in the spirit of fear of G-d and love for G-d, love for the Torah and Mitzvoth" (the emphasized words were handwritten by the rebbe).
At the end of the letter, before his blessing "with a good inscription and sealing for a good and sweet year in material and spiritual matters", the rebbe added in his handwriting " He who blesses and receives blessings".
[1] leaf. Approx. 17 cm. Thin paper. Poor condition. Large closed and open tears, with damage and loss to text. Large dark stains. Tape repair on verso.
Typewritten on thin paper, and signed with the rebbe's full signature " Menachem Mendel son of Chana Schneersohn", with many additions and emendations. The rebbe crossed out the printed date, "First day of Selichot", and corrected the date in his handwriting to "Chai [18th] Elul".
The rebbe begins the general letter, addressed to " Our brothers and sisters, Jewish sons and daughters" with blessings for a good year: "As we stand on the threshold of a new year, 5713… I send my blessing for a good and sweet year, to all our brothers and sisters, Jewish sons and daughters wherever they are", and he arouses them with the approach of upcoming Hakhel year: "In these days, at the close of the past year and at the threshold of the coming year, let every Jewish father and mother, every rabbi and leader, every communal worker and person of influence, heed the call of the Mitzvah of Hakhel… to gather the masses of Jewish children and bring them to the Yeshivot, Talmud Torahs and Torah-true educational institutions; and by means of generous charity, to support of true Torah institutions and ensure their existence and growth, in order that all Jewish children boys and girl be brought up in the spirit of fear of G-d and love for G-d, love for the Torah and Mitzvoth" (the emphasized words were handwritten by the rebbe).
At the end of the letter, before his blessing "with a good inscription and sealing for a good and sweet year in material and spiritual matters", the rebbe added in his handwriting " He who blesses and receives blessings".
[1] leaf. Approx. 17 cm. Thin paper. Poor condition. Large closed and open tears, with damage and loss to text. Large dark stains. Tape repair on verso.
Chabad – Letters and Manuscripts
Chabad – Letters and Manuscripts