A long letter sent to the rabbi of Lipník, Moravia, signed by "the appointees of the Guardians of the Faith (Shomrei HaDat)… representing the honorable Av Beit Din of Pressburg and the rest of the honorable rabbis of Hungary and Transylvania": R. Meir Trebitsch, R. Yitzchak Reich, R. Moshe son of Menachem, and R. Shmuel Fränkel MiBach. Pest [Budapest], 13 Av (21 July) [1869].
A historical letter, written in the thick of the schism of the Hungarian Jewish communities, following the 1868 Budapest Congress. In the letter, the authors give a detailed account of the events of the schism, following the Congress which had been initiated by the Minister of Religion. They tell how when the Orthodox envoys recognized the plot of the Neolog envoys, who were trying to legislate laws against following Judaism and Halachah, they protested before the Minister of Religion, but he by no means accepted their claims. Consequently, the Orthodox envoys appealed to Emperor Franz Josef, and were granted a private audience with him. The Emperor listened and accepted their arguments, but since approval of their petition depended on the Minister of Religion, they decided to turn to rabbis outside of the Hungarian communities to bolster their claim that the approval of the "constitution of the communities" that had been approved at the Congress was an assault on freedom of religion and conscience, preventing adherents of a religion from fulfilling their religious duties.
In the margins of the letter, they apologize to the rabbi of Lipník for not knowing his name: "Note, his holy name was unknown to us from afar – but when his eminence's reply comes, his holy name will be engraved upon our hearts".
The first three signatories are the Orthodox lobbyists, who were among the envoys to the Congress mentioned previously: R. Meir Trebitsch of Óbuda (1813-1886), R. Yitzchak Reich, son of R. Moshe Aharon Reich of Timișoara, founder and head of the Orthodox organization in Budapest (until his death in 1896), and R. Moshe son of Menachem (apparently R. Moshe Fleischman of Pest, one of the envoys to the Congress of 1868, whose righteousness and large contributions to charity are attested to by the Ktav Sofer – see Igrot Sofrim, p. 53).

The fourth signatory is R. Shmuel Fränkel of Dorog (1815-1881), prominent Chassidic rabbi in Hungary, renowned as an exalted Tzadik and wonder-worker. Close disciple of the Divrei Chaim of Sanz, he also frequented the court of Rebbe Tzvi Hirsh of Liska. He lived in Komádi (Hungary; earning the title of "R. Shmuel Komader"), and in Berettyóújfalu. He would sign "MiBach", and is referred to as such on the title page of his book Imrei Shefer (according to some, this acronym stands for "MiBeit Chalfon", while others interpret it as "MeHar Chadash", after his place of residence Berettyóújfalu). In 1874, he was appointed rabbi of Hajdúdorog, Hungary. His descendants include many prominent rabbis and personalities. The Torah institutions of the Dorog Chassidut today were established in his memory.

[1] leaf. 39.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Tears to folds (reinforced with tape on verso), slightly affecting text. Open tears (cut out) on the right margins of the leaf (not affecting text).

The present letter was printed in the book Rabbenu HaKadosh MiDorog (Bnei Brak, 2001, pp. 212-217), and in the new edition of his book Imrei Shefer (part 2, Bnei Brak, 2011, Igrot Kodesh, letter 2, pp. 151-154).