Notable letter, handwritten and signed by R. Yaakov HaLevi Lipschitz, secretary and confidant of R. Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor, Rabbi of Kovno. [Kovno, after Adar 1888].
A lengthy, unknown letter that sheds light on the position and activity of R. Yaakov Lipschitz in the Heter Mechirah controversy that erupted prior to the Shemitah year of 1888-1889. The letter begins without an addressee, and is indicated as a continuation, but is signed at the end by "Yaakov HaLevi Lipschitz". [A well-known method had the writer send an initial letter without identifying himself in case the content would fall into unwelcome hands, followed by a signed letter. And indeed, R. Yaakov Lipschitz begins the letter with an allusion to the danger he was faced with].
The letter deals primarily with R. Lipschitz's activities opposing the Zionist movement, and especially against the wealthy Aharon Yehoshua Shapiro of Bialystok (son-in-law of Rabbi Hillel Bishka of Kėdainiai) who financed the Zionists.
Towards the end of the letter, R. Lipschitz explicitly references his involvement in the Heter Mechirah polemic, relating his fervent attempts to prevent R. Yitzchak Elchanan from signing his permissive ruling. He states that the almost succeeded, blaming the failure on a ploy by "the deceitful Ezra of Bialystok" who had convinced the rabbi of Kutno to support him, in turn persuading R. Yitzchak Elchanan. R. Lipschitz praises the announcement opposing the Heter (apparently referring to the poster of the rabbis of Jerusalem), concluding that a solution can only be achieved by a meeting.
Before the Shemitah year of 1888-1889, a halachic solution was proposed to sell the agricultural land in Eretz Israel to non-Jews to enable Jewish farmers to continue working their land during the Shemita year. In Adar 1888, R. Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor, at that time a leading rabbi and Torah authority, signed a letter brought to him endorsing the solution, which had also been signed by R. Yisrael Yehoshua of Kutno (author of Yeshuot Malko), R. Shmuel Mohilever of Bialystok and R. Shmuel Zanvil Klepfish, posek in Warsaw. This letter sparked a controversy, and was opposed by the rabbis of the Old Yishuv in Jerusalem and by other rabbis in Europe. Throughout the following Shemitah years, the polemic recurred time after time, with those accepting Heter Mechirah relying, among other factors, on the ruling of R. Yitzchak Elchanan. R. Yaakov Lipschitz, renowned assistant and secretary of R. Yitzchak Elchanan, was one of the fiercest opponents to the Zionist movement, which promoted Heter Mechirah to benefit the farmers of the new settlements in Eretz Israel.
[1] leaf (written on both sides), 11X13 cm. Good condition.
