Letter handwritten and signed by Rabbi Shach head of Ponevezh Yeshiva, about his attitude towards Chassidim and Rebbes. Bnei Brak, Cheshvan 1988.
Sent to "The rebbe Rahatz in Jerusalem" – before the elections to the Knesset in the autumn of 1988, at the time Rabbi Shach founded the Degel HaTorah movement [after Agudat Yisrael refused to accept the opinion of the heads of yeshivot and Lithuanian Torah leaders – especially Related to the Messiac movement of Chabad Chassidim].
He writes as follows: "In continuation of our conversation yesterday, I was really shocked to hear of the slander and falsehood told about me that I have spoken or done something, G-d forbid, against Chassidim and their leaders…This is a lowly defamation and a coarse falsehood to say that I oppose Chassidim. I have already said that I truly do not have and never had anything against Chassidism or Chassidim. It is well-known that thousands of Chassidic students studied and are studying at present in our holy yeshiva. I have never treated them differently in any way from any other students – I am sorry that the word "sect" that I used in my opposition to Chabad Chassidism hurt the Chassidim, but G-d forbid, I did not mean Chassidim in general, whom I know to be G-d-fearing and complete in Torah and mitzvah observance... On the contrary, I cannot imagine the way our generation would look without Chassidism and Chassidim and their lofty activities for Torah and Judaism, with their characteristic beloved warmth, especially the rebbes and their special yeshivot which have an important place in the Torah world…”.
This letter came from the home of the Spinka-Zhydachiv, Rebbe Alter Eliezer Kahane (1937-2009), a holy tsaddik and an outstanding Jerusalem Torah scholar - See Item 439 - who was hurt during the
dispute which developed between Chassidim and Jews of Lithuanian tradition during that election campaign and he traveled to Bnei Brak to speak with Rabbi Shach on this matter. Rabbi Shach heard his painful plaints and he knew no rest all night. The next day, he wrote this letter and sent it with a special messenger who brought the home of Rebbe Alter Kahane in Jerusalem. [Interestingly, he did not explicitly write the name of the recipient, the Rebbe, in the letter. Perhaps he was concerned lest this lead to additional polemic and dispute].
Official stationery, 25 cm. Approximately 19 handwritten lines. Very-good condition, folding marks. + the original envelope in which the letter arrived.