Auction 050 Part 2 Special Chabad Auction in Honor of Chag HaGeulah Yud-Tes Kislev – Rosh Hashana of Chassidut – Marking the Date in which Rebbe Shneur Zalman of Liadi was Released from Czarist Imprisonment
Three letters and documents from the Neumark family archive (a Chabad rabbi in Russia):
• Leaf handwritten by Rabbi Yisrael Yaakov Neumark, Rabbi of Novhorod-Siverskyi (elder brother of R. Chaim Meshulam Zalman Neumark, Rabbi of Starodub). [Novhorod-Siverskyi, 1864.] Letter of commitment not to drink alcohol [apparently due to R. Neumark's function as a shochet, following an ancient statute].
• Responsum (2 handwritten pages) to R. Chaim Meshulam Zalman Neumark, Rabbi of Starodub, by R. Uri Aryeh Leib Katz, posek in the bordering town of Pahar (Lubyane). [Zlynka?], first day of Rosh Chodesh Tamuz, 1892. Question as to whether the synagogue ark should be changed from the east side to the south side to face Jerusalem.
• Document of sale of chametz (2 pages), handwritten and signed by R. Avraham Yaakov Neumark, Rabbi of Prienai (grandson of R. Chaim Meshulam Zalman Neumark, Rabbi of Starodub). Prienai, 14 Nisan, 1912.
[3] leaves. Varying size and condition. Overall good to fair condition.
R. Chaim Meshulam Zalman Neumark (d. 1893), a leading Chabad rabbi, important disciple of the Tzemach Tzedek, the Rebbe Maharash and the Rebbe Rashab of Lubavitch. One of the most renowned and prominent rabbis of Chabad Chassidut in his times. He served as rabbi of the following prominent Chabad cities and towns: Horki (1857-1867), Starodub (1867-1886), Vitebsk (1886-1888) and Nevel (1888-1893). Rebbe Yehudah Leib of Kopust called him "a renowned posek, both in halachic ruling and in his Chassidic knowledge".
Lengthy responsum (8 pages) handwritten and signed by Rabbi Shlomo Yehudah Leib Eliezerov. Oran (Algeria), Wednesday, 21 Cheshvan [1887].
Responsum letter on a woman who was betrothed to multiple men. R. Eliezerov discusses the issue at length and proffers a ruling.
Interestingly, this letter was sent from Oran, Algeria in 1887, while R. Eliezerov was an emissary sent to raise funds for the Jewish settlement in Hebron at the young age of 24. Little is known about this voyage, which R. Eliezerov describes in the letter.
The letter was printed, with textual variants, in his book Responsa She'elat Shlomo (Jerusalem, 2002), section 55.
R. Shlomo Yehudah Leib Eliezerov (1863-1952), rabbi and leader of the Chabad and Ashkenazi community in Hebron, and emissary to the Jewish community of Bukhara-Samarkand. Founder of the Magen Avot and Torat Emet yeshivas in Hebron. His father R. Eliezer Shimon Kazarnovsky was a grandson of Rebbetzin Menuchah Rachel Slonim, daughter of the Mitteler Rebbe. In 1873 he immigrated with his parents to Eretz Israel and settled in Hebron, where he studied under R. Shimon Menashe Chaikin and R. Eliyahu Mani. He traveled frequently to North Africa and Uzbekistan as an emissary of the Sephardic Hebron community, and in 1897 he was appointed chief rabbi of the Bukhara-Samarkand region, where he changed his surname to Eliezerov (after his father). In 1903 he was appointed Rabbi of the Ashkenazi Hebron community, and after World War I he settled in Jerusalem until his passing. His halachic responsa are printed in She'elat Shlomo.
[4] leaves (8 handwritten pages). Approx. 21 cm. Good condition. Folds. Stains and wear (mainly to last page). Small marginal tears, reinforced with tape.
Four letters of pilpul and halachah sent to R. Chaim Berlin (during his tenure as Rabbi of Yelisavetgrad and during his Jerusalem period), by important Chabad rabbis in Russia during the time of the Tzemach Tzedek, the Rebbe Maharash and the Rebbe Rashab of Lubavitch. Kherson, Romanovka, Yekaterinoslav and Lubavitch, 1902-1912.
1. Letter handwritten and signed by R. Gershon Dov Ber Pinsker, Rabbi of Kherson, regarding permitting an agunah to remarry. Kherson, 18 Shevat, 1902. At the top of the letter is his stamp.
2. Letter handwritten and signed by R. Sheiman (Shlomo) Itkin, Rabbi of Romanovka. Romanovka, 1903. At the top of the leaf is his stamp: "Sheiman son of R. Itkin, posek of the Romanovka community". In the letter R. Itkin asks R. Berlin's opinion regarding a machine for drawing well water into a mikveh [in the beginning of the letter R. Itkin mentions a responsum he had received from R. Berlin a week earlier; see this responsum on mikveh matters in Nishmat Chaim – Yoreh Deah, Jerusalem 2008, section 122, pp. 219-220].
3. Letter (2 pages) handwritten and signed by R. Dov Ze'ev Kozhevnikov, posek in Yekaterinoslav (Dnipro), regarding succession to a position as community shochet. Yekaterinoslav (Dnipro), 11 Nisan, 1905. At the top of the leaf is his stamp.
4. Lengthy letter (10 pages) handwritten and signed by R. Avraham Chaim Naeh. Lubavitch, 27 Sivan, 1912. At the end of the letter are his stamps in Hebrew and Latin script: “Chaim Mendelov”, “Ch. Mendelow”. Lengthy responsum discussing various topics (Chazakah and Chezkat Mamon, Tzrorot and Koach Kocho, and more).
The letter was sent during R. Naeh's stay in Lubavitch with the Rebbe Rashab, at the end of his service as an emissary in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on the way back to Eretz Israel. During this period R. Naeh wore the characteristic clothing of Bucharan Jews and adopted the surname Mendelov. Despite his young age when sending the present letter, only 22 years old, R. Naeh was famed for his greatness in Torah and corresponded with the great rabbis of Jerusalem. At the beginning of Chanoch LaNaar, a book he had printed during that period for the residents of Samarkand, R. Berlin's letter to him is printed, where he showers him with titles of admiration and affection. [It can be deduced from the beginning of the present letter that he had sent previous responsa.]
Four letters (14 handwritten pages). Approx. 21-22 cm. Good condition. Folds. Stains, creases and light wear.
To the best of our knowledge and research, the four present letters have never before been printed.