Letter of blessings in honor of the 70th birthday of R. Azriel Hildesheimer, by rabbis and notables of the city of Kaunas (Kovne), including R. Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor, Rabbi of Kaunas, and R. Yitzchak Blazer, Rabbi of St. Petersburg. Kaunas, 1890.
A long letter on a large-format leaf. The first four lines are in the handwriting of R. Yitzchak Elchanan, followed by a letter in scribal writing with good wishes and blessings in honor of R. Azriel's 70th birthday.
The margins bear the signature and stamp of R. Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor and four signatures of Kaunas rabbis and notables: R. Yitzchak Meir Rabinowitz, Rabbi of Slobodka (then a suburb of Kaunas); R. Yitzchak (Itzele) Blazer, Rabbi of St. Petersburg"; R. Baruch Broide, Kaunas notable and follower of the Musar Movement and R. Zvi Hirsh Soltzovsky, son-in-law of R. Yitzchak Elchanan.
Beside the signatures of the Rabbis appears the stamp of Kollel Perushim in Kaunas with the inscription: "Society of founders of our People's philanthropists established by the Torah scholars of our times to support those who study Torah and to guide them in Torah learning and fear [of G-d] to train them to become Torah authorities".
R. Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor (1817-1896), a Torah luminary in his generation, renowned for his exceptional Torah knowledge, his diligence and outstanding piety. The supreme Torah authority of his times, he led Lithuanian and Russian Jewry for years with wisdom and compassion. Officiated in the rabbinate from ca. 1837 and in 1864, was appointed Rabbi of Kaunas (Kovne), his name spreading all over the world as a leading posek. His responsa and novellae are printed in his books Be'er Yitzchak, Nachal Yitzchak and Ein Yitzchak.
R. Yitzchak (Itzele) Blazer (1837-1907), prominent disciple of R. Yisrael of Salant, luminary in his days and disseminator of the Musar Movement. Officiated in the rabbinate of the capital city St. Petersburg and from 1862-1878, headed the Kovne Kollel. In his senior years, he moved to Jerusalem. Authored Pri Yitzchak Responsa and Kochvei Or which he published together with the book Or Yisrael by his revered teacher, R. Yisrael of Salant.
R. Yitzchak Meir Rabinowitz (1843-1891), Lithuanian Torah scholar, Rabbi of Žasliai, later of Slobodka (from ca. 1885).
The recipient, R. Azriel Hildesheimer (1820-1899), a leader in his times, was a disciple of the Aruch LaNer and of R. Yitzchak Bernays of Hamburg. He served as rabbi of Eisenstadt between 1851-1869 where he founded an innovative yeshiva integrating secular studies according to the Torah with Derech Eretz doctrine. This move drew opposition and criticism both from the Reform movement and from certain sects of Orthodox Judaism. However, the leading rabbis of Hungary and Germany recognized his greatness and backed his yeshiva. In 1869, he was appointed rabbi of Berlin, where he established the Rabbinical seminary, standing at the helm of Orthodox Jewry in Germany.
R. Yitzchak Elchanan and R. Azriel Hildesheimer developed a close relationship during their mutual activities on behalf of the Jewish People, R. Yitzchak Elchanan from his base in Russia and R. Azriel from Germany. Among other joint undertakings, they labored to assist Russian Jewry after the 1881 pogroms (Sufot BaNegev), establishing a relief committee for Russian Jewry in Berlin; both luminaries extended great efforts to annul decrees against the Jewish People from their respective countries.
[1] leaf. 36 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Folding marks, filing holes.