Five letters from R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, addressed to his disciple and intimate associate, R. Yechezkel Abramsky, head of the London Beit Din. Vilna, Shevat, Adar and Nisan 1937.

The letters were partially written by two of R. Chaim Ozer's scribes, with several lines handwritten and signed by R. Chaim Ozer – who signs over six times.

Enclosed in addition are two copies of halachic responsa from R. Simchah Zelig, head of the Brisk Beit Din (handwritten by R. Chaim Ozer's scribes).

The letters relate to various matters – halachic issues and public and private affairs (including consolation for the passing of his father R. Mordechai Zalman Abramsky – who had lived in Żołudek, Poland (present-day Zhaludok, Belarus), in his old age, and passed away in early Shevat 1937.

In the letter dated 12th Shevat, R. Chaim Ozer writes that on the previous Thursday "I wrote you a letter of consolation. I also informed you of what I responded to R. Ferber regarding civil marriage. Now yesterday, I received a telegram from the Beit Din asking for my opinion on a Get where the signed witnesses and the agent don't remember the case… but in the ledger of the Beit Din they found that the husband appointed the attendant as an agent for transporting the Get…". R. Chaim Ozer writes that due to his faintness, it is hard for him to study this topic.

In the letter dated 12th Adar, R. Chaim Ozer goes on to discuss the issue of testimony by the judge in the Beit Din ledger. He apologizes that he doesn't have a decision on the issue, and he adds that he wants to consult with "another great person, and we will decide the case together with you". [R. Chaim Ozer appears to have consulted R. Yitzchak Ze'ev Soloveitchik, the Brisker Rav, and the head of the Brisk Beit Din and senior posek R. Simchah Zelig Reguer; see below].

On the margins of the letter, R. Chaim Ozer writes that the sending of matzah to Russian rabbis for Pesach has been delayed, and asks Mr. Keiser "to send it directly to the rabbis whose addresses I will provide…".

In the letter dated 7th Nisan, R. Chaim Ozer discusses the law mandating stunning of animals before slaughtered, and the trouble due to the expert opinion of Dr. Ehrenpreis of Stockholm "who addressed the government ministers [in Sweden], telling them that there is no prohibition to stun animals before shechitah". R. Chaim Ozer asks R. Abramsky "to stay vigilant, and perhaps the Chief Rabbi Dr. Hertz can address Dr. Ehrenpreis asking him not to do such a thing, which… could cause serious damage to our people throughout the Jewish diaspora…". He goes on to discuss the assistance to the Ramailes yeshiva in Vilna, mentioning that "A.M. Keiser sent, at my request, packages for Pesach needs to seventy rabbis in Russia. R. Goodman also sent thirty packages. Thank G-d, I managed to return and send to all those who sought and requested it from there…". R. Chaim Ozer concludes with Pesach blessings: "I sign with much blessing, the blessing of the upcoming holy festival, in accordance with your pure desire and that of your friend, esteeming and respecting you, Chaim Ozer Grodzinski".

On verso of letter dated 7th Nisan, additional letter signed by R. Chaim Ozer, on the same topic of agency in a Get: "As for your question regarding the Get, I informed the head rabbi of the Beit Din there [R. Yitzchak Ze'ev Soloveitchik] via the yeshiva dean of Brisk and to R. Simchah Zelig, and enclosed is his second responsum and his first letter. Although what he says has not been made clear to me, and I responded to him about this, nevertheless I saw fit to send you his letters…".

The copy of R. Simchah Zelig's first responsum is written on R. Chaim Ozer's official stationery. R. Simchah Zelig writes: "In my opinion, you should write to hurry R. Yechezkel to deliver the Get, so that this will not become an irremediable situation…".

In the continuation (in the month of Nisan), R. Simchah Zelig writes an additional letter on the issue, citing various traditions he had received on similar cases regarding reliability based on writing, in the name of R. Akiva Eiger, the Beit HaLevi and R. Refael Shapiro, and regarding the question of a conditional Get given by a man on his deathbed, "in the lifetime of the our master and teacher, the Gaon" [R. Chaim of Brisk]. He writes that in his opinion the Get can be delivered, "and in my opinion there is no question about the matter, since the truth is that he is an agent. Therefore I said to R. Naftali son of R. Elchanan [Wasserman] that to me there is no question in the matter…". [These two letters of R. Simchah Zelig were published in Moriah, VIII, issues 4-5 (88-89, Elul 1978, pp. 18-21].

In a letter dated Erev Pesach, R. Chaim Ozer writes regarding support for yeshivas and Dr. Ehrenpreis' actions regarding stunning animals. In the margins, R. Chaim Ozer adds his decision regarding the above question regarding the Get [these letters were printed in the above issue of Moriah, and from there were printed in Responsa Achiezer, IV, Bnei Brak 1986 – sections 55-56].

In the letter dated the third day of Chol HaMoed Pesach, R. Chaim Ozer writes to R. Abramsky: "Regarding the Get, in my opinion it isn't proper to print a booklet specifically dealing with this question, because there will be those who object and appeal, nor has it been the practice to print one for each question. But if you eventually manage to publish a dedicated responsa work, or to add some booklets from your novellae on Tosefta Nashim, you should do so".

At the end of the letter from Chol HaMoed Pesach, he discusses the activity to rescue "R. Avraham Eliyahu Maizis of Kremenchuk, who has been imprisoned in Moscow…".

R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski (1863-1940) was a foremost rabbi of his generation and leader of European Jewry. He was the son of R. David Shlomo Grodzinski, Rabbi of Iwye. He was renowned from his childhood for his exceptional brilliance. He entered the Volozhin yeshiva at the young age of 11, and became a disciple of R. Chaim of Brisk. At the age of 24, he was appointed rabbi and posek of Vilna, succeeding his father-in-law R. Eliyahu Eliezer Grodnansky, a posek in Vilna (son-in-law of R. Yisrael Salanter). He assumed the yoke of public leadership from a young age, and his opinion was conclusive on all public issues which arose throughout the Jewish world for close to fifty years.

The recipient of the letters, R. Yechezkel Abramsky (1886-1976), was a confidant and agent of R. Chaim Ozer of Vilna ever since developing close ties with him in his youth while studying under his influence in Vilna. In winter of 1806, the "prodigy of Masty" Yechezkel Abramsky was forced to leave the Telshe yeshiva and flee to Vilna [which was then under Polish control] to avoid conscription to the Russian army. In Vilna he was accepted into the Ramailes yeshiva and joined the elite class of students who listened to the advanced lectures of R. Chaim Ozer (based on Melech BeYofyo, pp. 29-33). While subsequently serving as Rabbi of Smilavichy and Slutsk, he served often as R. Chaim Ozer's agent in various communal affairs. R. Abramsky smuggled the manuscript of Part I of his Chazon Yechezkel from Slutsk to his teacher R. Chaim Ozer in Vilna, who was involved in its publication in Vilna, 1925, through his confidant R. Aharon Dov Alter Voronovsky (R. Abramsky's wife's cousin). When R. Abramsky was arrested by the Soviets and sent to Siberia in 1930, R. Chaim Ozer made every possible effort to release him. After his release in 1931, R. Chaim Ozer and the Rebbe Rayatz of Lubavitch joined with R. Abramsky to initiate the project of sending Pesach flour and food packages to Jews under the Bolshevik regime in Russia. Likewise, R. Abramsky was active on missions on behalf of R. Chaim Ozer for yeshivas in Poland and Lithuania and for rabbis of Europe. They also cooperated on many public issues, including the struggles for Jewish marriage and against the anti-Semitic laws in Germany and Europe forbidding Jewish shechitah (requiring stunning animals before slaughtering, which renders the meat non-kosher), and on rescue activity for rabbis and yeshivas who fled as refugees to Vilna at the start of the Holocaust. The present letters reflect some of their cooperation on wide-ranging public activities.

Three of the present letters have lines added, handwritten and signed (with his initials) by R. Abramsky's relative – R. Aharon Dov Alter Voronovsky (perished in the Holocaust) was a secretary and confidant of R. Chaim Ozer, and served as a scribe for his many letters. In 1925 R. Alter published Part I of his cousin R. Abramsky's Chazon Yechezkel from a manuscript smuggled from Russia. His father was R. Yitzchak Yaakov Voronovsky, author of Chelkat Yaakov (d. 1904), who served as Rabbi of Mush (Novaya Mysh) for 25 years, succeeding his father-in-law R. Yaakov Moshe Direktor Rabbi of Mush (grandfather of R. Abramsky's wife).

5 letters on official stationery (comprising 8 leaves, including 10 written pages). Varying size. Overall good to fair-good condition. Stains, tears and wear.

Lengthy letter (2 large pages, 63 lines) handwritten and signed by R. Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky (the Steipler Gaon). Bnei Brak, "Thursday, Korach" [24th Sivan] 1951.

Addressed to his mechutan, R. Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, during the engagement period of his son R. Chaim Kanievsky to Rebbetzin Batsheva, R. Elyashiv's eldest daughter (the engagement was on Lag BaOmer 1951, and the wedding took place the following Kislev). In the letter, the Steipler tells how he paid key money to rent an apartment he had found for the young couple: "…I write to inform you that thank G-d, we got to rent a fine apartment for the couple here in Bnei Brak, second floor, a nice room with a kitchen, bathroom and the rest… The apartment is really worth double or more; the landlord could have asked for 1,000 lira immediately, but they are honorable people of the city who love the Torah very much, and they are leasing the house to us for love of Torah, may G-d reward them in this world and the next".

He goes on to write about Torah issues on various topics, which R. Yosef Shalom had discussed with him in a previous letter (regarding destroying chametz which became Notar, spilling of sacrificial blood, and Meilah by eating something worth less than a Perutah).

The Steipler concludes the letter by blessing the mechutanim and "the excellent bride": "I sign with all concluding blessings to you, with the honorable family, and especially the dear, excellent bride, seeking your welfare with much love, hoping for G-d's great kindness, Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky".

R. Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky (1899-1985), a leading Torah scholar of the past generation. He was known as the Steipler, an appellation derived from his hometown Hornostaipil, Ukraine. A foremost student of the Novardok yeshivas in Ukraine and Poland, he was reputed as one of the most diligent and scholarly students in the yeshiva world. Following his marriage to the sister of the Chazon Ish, he was appointed dean of the Novardok yeshiva in Pinsk, and in 1934, he immigrated to Eretz Israel to serve as dean of the Beit Yosef Novardok yeshiva in Bnei Brak. For many years, he lived in Bnei Brak in the same house as his brother-in-law, the Chazon Ish. After the yeshiva shut down, he continued his studies in Kollel Chazon Ish and in his home, and authored the Kehillot Yaakov series on most Talmudic topics and tractates. He was known as a wonder-worker benefiting from Divine Inspiration, and many sought his blessings and counsel.

The match between R. Chaim Kanievsky (1928-2022) and Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky (1932-2012), eldest daughter of R. Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, was concluded upon the advice of the groom's uncle, the Chazon Ish, who stated that as a daughter of a veritable Torah scholar, she was truly suited for him. R. Elyashiv later retold that when he consulted the Chazon Ish about the match, the latter praised the prospective groom profusely, even predicting that R. Chaim would one day be an outstanding Torah scholar renowned for his breadth of knowledge, just like the Rogatchover. When R. Elyashiv related this decades later, he added that at the time, it seemed to him that the Chazon Ish was overstating, as is customary for matchmaking, but in truth the prediction of the Chazon Ish was realized in full.

The Steipler, father of R. Chaim Kanievsky, held his mechutan R. Elyashiv in high regard, and would refer to him halachic questions and names to be mentioned in prayer and for blessings. He even sent people to be blessed by his daughter-in-law Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky, as a woman of holy lineage. Over the years, her great abilities were publicized, and many experienced salvations as a result of her prayers and blessings. Thousands of women flocked to Rebbetzin Batsheva, seeking her heartfelt encouragement and wise counsel.

[1] leaf. Official stationery. 30 cm. Written on both sides (63 lines in his handwriting). Good condition. Creases and folding marks.

The present letter was published in various forums, including Yeshurun (XXVIII, Nisan 2013, pp. 311-312).

Decorated parchment ketubah, for the wedding of Eliyahu son of Gavriel Padovani and Gentila daughter of "the expert physician" David Nachmias. "S. Lucia near Conegliano" (Santa Lucia di Piave), Italy, 12th Tishrei 5486 [September 19, 1725].

Ink and paint on parchment.

Ketubah on large parchment sheet, with upper margins cut into a somewhat pointed arch. The text of the ketubah appears in the bottom half, in square letters, with signatures of witnesses below: David son of Shlomo Valensin and Yaakov son of Avraham Yeshurun (to the right) and the signature of the groom (to the left). Below the signatures appears a certification in Italian on translation of the ketubah (see below), issued in Venice on November 25, 1745, with the signature of the translator, "Moise qm. [quondam] Raffael Vitta Naso" (Moshe son of Refael Chai Naso) and his stamp, depicting a figure wrestling a lion.

The upper third of the ketubah is decorated with a large, gilt guilloche, illustrated with flowers and a pair of birds, above which is a (blank) medallion with a crown, the blessing "With an auspicious sign and good luck" and the verse "A woman of valor is the crown of her husband". The bottom two thirds contain the ketubah text, located within a golden arch bearing the verse "He who has found a wife has found good". The arch is supported by two massive pillars decorated with golden guilloches, with large Corinthian capitals, with flower vases set upon them. The design of this ketubah follows the traditions of design common in northern and central Italy, and ketubot with similar decorations, from the same period, are documented from Venice and other cities in the Veneto region.

The fascinating story of the bride, Gentila Nachmias, is documented in detail in documents housed in the Central Archives of the State (Italy). As described there, in 1740, Gentila's husband left her, traveling to England, and so she returned to her father's home. A year later her husband returned, and she became pregnant for a second time. The husband later traveled to Venice for an extended period with their eldest son. During this period, Gentila read a book by a Jewish apostate and decided to convert to Christianity (which she evidently did in June 1744). On May 14, 1744, at the age of 35, she fled with her children from her father's home in Santa Lucia, taking refuge under the bishop of Ceneda, who sent her children to Venice to convert. Gentila's father sued for the return of his grandchildren, but it is unclear what eventually happened to them.

Apparently, due to these events, the present ketubah was also marked as certified for translation to Italian in 1745. For further information, see: Giovanni e Silvia Tomasi, Ebrei nel Veneto orientale, Firenze: Giuntina, 2012, pp. 146, 228-229 (see also p. 146, note 573, mentioning the translator Moise Raffael Vitta Naso).

53X70 cm. Fair-good condition. Creases, stains and tears, professionally restored, affecting text and decorations. Fading of paint. Margins of ketubah may have been originally wider and were later trimmed. Signs of parchment processing visible on verso.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the only documented ketubah from Santa Lucia. This ketubah is also documented on the NLI ketubah site, listing 990003035470205171.

For similar ketubot from the Veneto region, see: Shalom Sabar, The Art of the Ketubbah, Vol. I. New York: Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary, 2022, nos. 28-30, 36, 38.

Decorated parchment ketubah, for the wedding of Aharon son of Moshe Enriques and Avigayil daughter of Aharon Serano. Bayonne, France, 13th Kislev 5494 [November 20, 1733].

Ink and paint on parchment.

Written on a small rectangular parchment sheet, with upper margins cut in an undulating pattern. The text of the ketubah appears in the center, in brown Sephardic semi-cursive script, with the signatures of the groom and witnesses below, in Latin characters (illegible).

Decorated with a colorful, symmetric vegetal pattern, containing flower branches emerging from a pair of vases. At the top of the ketubah is a cartouche with the blessing "With an auspicious sign" (with serifs on letters). The text is surrounded by a red rectangular frame, and the margins are bordered in a matching frame.

This ketubah documents the marriage of a couple of Sephardic origin. Its decorations may have been influenced by the engraved borders that began to appear in ketubot of the Sephardic-Portuguese community of the Netherlands in the 17th century (based on engravings produced by the engraver and artist Shalom Italia).

27.5X34.5 cm. Fair-good condition. Creases, folding marks and stains, slightly affecting text and illustrations.

The NLI ketubah site documents only eight ketubot from Bayonne, most in museum or institutional collections.

This ketubah was formerly in the collection of Mozes Heiman Gans (1917-1987), Amsterdam, from which it was scanned onto the NLI ketubah site, listing 990003030970205171.

Decorated parchment ketubah, for the wedding of Aharon son of Gavriel Luria and Avigayil daughter of Yosef Ohev Brandon. Hamburg, Germany, 8th Adar II 5516 [March 10, 1756].

Ink and paint on parchment.

Written on a small rectangular parchment sheet. The text of the ketubah is written in square script and is followed by signatures of the groom (to the right) and the witnesses Yaakov (Jaacob) Belinfante and Yonah (Jona) Asayol (all in Latin characters), below which appear the Tena'im, also in square script, again with the same three signatures. The text mentions that the dowry was written "on a separate document made on Wednesday, 8th Kislev of this year, signed by R. Yaakov HaKohen Belinfante and R. Yonah Asayol".

Decorated with a rectangular frame in a repeating vegetal pattern colored bright blue and red, across the upper, right and left margins, with two small bases in bottom corners.

19X32 cm. Overall good condition. Some stains and creases, slightly affecting decorations and text.

For further information on the Spanish-Portuguese community in Hamburg, see: Shalom Sabar, The Art of the Ketubbah, Vol. I. New York: Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary, 2022, no. 217 (KET 242).

This ketubah was formerly in the collection of Mozes Heiman Gans (1917-1987), Amsterdam, from which it was scanned onto the NLI ketubah site, listing 990003030910205171.