Auction 75 - Rare and Important Items
Letter from Polish Rebbes and Torah Scholars – On Behalf of Keren HaTorah in Poland – 1926
Opening: $2,000
Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000
Sold for: $4,000
Including buyer's premium
Letter signed by Rebbe Avraham Mordechai of Ger and leading Polish rabbis: R. Meir Dan Plotzky author of Kli Chemda, R. Yaakov Meir Biederman and R. Menachem Ziemba. Iyar 1926.
Letter from "Keren HaTorah Center in Poland", addressed to British Jewry. Appeal for assistance for the Torah institutions in Poland, who were in dire financial straits due to the economic crisis in Poland. Typewritten, with handwritten signatures of the above-listed rabbis. At the foot of the page, signature of R. Alexander Zusia Friedman (author of Maayana shel Torah) – "In the name of Keren HaTorah in Poland".
The elder Rebbe of Ger – R. Avraham Mordechai Alter, author of Imrei Emet (1865-1948), third Rebbe of the Ger dynasty. Son of the Sefat Emet, he was a holy and outstanding Torah scholar. A founder of Agudath Yisrael and prominent leader of Orthodox Jewry before the Holocaust, he served as rebbe to tens of thousands of Ger Chassidim in Poland. During the Holocaust, most of his Chassidim and dozens of his descendants perished, yet the Rebbe miraculously survived and immigrated to Jerusalem, where he rebuilt the Ger Chassidic dynasty and its yeshivot. His surviving sons all in turn served as rebbes: the Beit Yisrael, the Lev Simcha and the Pnei Menachem. He was named Imrei Emet after his book.
R. Meir Dan Plotzky (1866-1928), a prominent Polish rabbi in the early 20th century. He was one of the founders of Agudath Yisrael in Poland and a member of the Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah. In 1891, he was appointed rabbi of Dvart (Warta) and in 1918, of Ostrov (Ostrów Mazowiecka). He was one of the most brilliant Torah scholars in Poland, and R. Chaim Soloveitchik wrote in his approbations: "He is extremely great in Torah, with astuteness, erudition and reasoning"; "He is great both in Torah and fear of G-d". R. Plotzky's popular book Kli Chemda on the Torah was highly cherished by Polish Torah scholars. He was a Gerrer Chassid and his entire life clung to the Sfat Emet and the Imrei Emet. He participated in the famous delegation of leading rabbis who travelled to the United States in 1924, together with the Dvar Avraham, Rabbi of Kovno, with R. Moshe Mordechai Epstein and with R. Avraham Yitzchak Kook.
R. Yaakov Meir Biederman (1870-1941, perished in the Holocaust), outstanding Torah scholar, who edited the books of his father-in-law the Sefat Emet, rebbe of Ger. He served as dayan and on the board of rabbis of the Warsaw community. He was the father-in-law of his brother-in-law the Imrei Emet, Rebbe of Ger, in the latter's second marriage (his daughter bore Rebbe Pinchas Menachem of Ger), and father-in-law of the Beit Yisrael in his first marriage. R. Yaakov Meir was a foremost Chassid in the Ger court, and administrated the Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes fund in Poland.
R. Menachem Ziemba (1883-1943, perished in the Holocaust), a prominent Polish Torah scholar in his times, a leader of the Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah in Poland and a member of the Warsaw Vaad HaRabbanim. He edified many disciples, and his home in the Praga neighborhood (suburb of Warsaw) was always teaming with Torah scholars and young men who came to absorb his teachings. All the leading Torah scholars of Lithuania and Poland regarded him as a leader of the generation for his scholarly prominence. He was killed on Pesach, 1943, during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. His works include Zera Avraham, Totza'ot Chaim, and others, although most of his writings were lost during the war.
R. Alexander Zusia Friedman (1897-Cheshvan 1943, perished in Holocaust), brilliant Torah scholar and well-known community activist, speaker, author and organizer, founder of the Agudath Yisrael newspaper "Diglenu". Among the founders and ideologists of Agudath Yisrael movements in Poland (Tze'irei Agudath Yisrael, Po'alei Agudath Yisrael, Bnot Agudath Yisrael, Beit Yaakov, Yesodei HaTorah and more). From 1925, he served as general secretary of Agudath Yisrael in Poland. His books on the Torah, Maayana shel Torah (Der Torah Kval) were published in dozens of editions.
[1] leaf, official stationery. 27.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains and folding marks. Filing holes.
Letter from "Keren HaTorah Center in Poland", addressed to British Jewry. Appeal for assistance for the Torah institutions in Poland, who were in dire financial straits due to the economic crisis in Poland. Typewritten, with handwritten signatures of the above-listed rabbis. At the foot of the page, signature of R. Alexander Zusia Friedman (author of Maayana shel Torah) – "In the name of Keren HaTorah in Poland".
The elder Rebbe of Ger – R. Avraham Mordechai Alter, author of Imrei Emet (1865-1948), third Rebbe of the Ger dynasty. Son of the Sefat Emet, he was a holy and outstanding Torah scholar. A founder of Agudath Yisrael and prominent leader of Orthodox Jewry before the Holocaust, he served as rebbe to tens of thousands of Ger Chassidim in Poland. During the Holocaust, most of his Chassidim and dozens of his descendants perished, yet the Rebbe miraculously survived and immigrated to Jerusalem, where he rebuilt the Ger Chassidic dynasty and its yeshivot. His surviving sons all in turn served as rebbes: the Beit Yisrael, the Lev Simcha and the Pnei Menachem. He was named Imrei Emet after his book.
R. Meir Dan Plotzky (1866-1928), a prominent Polish rabbi in the early 20th century. He was one of the founders of Agudath Yisrael in Poland and a member of the Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah. In 1891, he was appointed rabbi of Dvart (Warta) and in 1918, of Ostrov (Ostrów Mazowiecka). He was one of the most brilliant Torah scholars in Poland, and R. Chaim Soloveitchik wrote in his approbations: "He is extremely great in Torah, with astuteness, erudition and reasoning"; "He is great both in Torah and fear of G-d". R. Plotzky's popular book Kli Chemda on the Torah was highly cherished by Polish Torah scholars. He was a Gerrer Chassid and his entire life clung to the Sfat Emet and the Imrei Emet. He participated in the famous delegation of leading rabbis who travelled to the United States in 1924, together with the Dvar Avraham, Rabbi of Kovno, with R. Moshe Mordechai Epstein and with R. Avraham Yitzchak Kook.
R. Yaakov Meir Biederman (1870-1941, perished in the Holocaust), outstanding Torah scholar, who edited the books of his father-in-law the Sefat Emet, rebbe of Ger. He served as dayan and on the board of rabbis of the Warsaw community. He was the father-in-law of his brother-in-law the Imrei Emet, Rebbe of Ger, in the latter's second marriage (his daughter bore Rebbe Pinchas Menachem of Ger), and father-in-law of the Beit Yisrael in his first marriage. R. Yaakov Meir was a foremost Chassid in the Ger court, and administrated the Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes fund in Poland.
R. Menachem Ziemba (1883-1943, perished in the Holocaust), a prominent Polish Torah scholar in his times, a leader of the Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah in Poland and a member of the Warsaw Vaad HaRabbanim. He edified many disciples, and his home in the Praga neighborhood (suburb of Warsaw) was always teaming with Torah scholars and young men who came to absorb his teachings. All the leading Torah scholars of Lithuania and Poland regarded him as a leader of the generation for his scholarly prominence. He was killed on Pesach, 1943, during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. His works include Zera Avraham, Totza'ot Chaim, and others, although most of his writings were lost during the war.
R. Alexander Zusia Friedman (1897-Cheshvan 1943, perished in Holocaust), brilliant Torah scholar and well-known community activist, speaker, author and organizer, founder of the Agudath Yisrael newspaper "Diglenu". Among the founders and ideologists of Agudath Yisrael movements in Poland (Tze'irei Agudath Yisrael, Po'alei Agudath Yisrael, Bnot Agudath Yisrael, Beit Yaakov, Yesodei HaTorah and more). From 1925, he served as general secretary of Agudath Yisrael in Poland. His books on the Torah, Maayana shel Torah (Der Torah Kval) were published in dozens of editions.
[1] leaf, official stationery. 27.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains and folding marks. Filing holes.
Chassidut – Letters and Manuscripts
Chassidut – Letters and Manuscripts