Lengthy letter (4 pages), from R. Yitzchak Ze'ev Soloveitchik, the Brisker Rav. Brisk, 14th Tevet [January] 1939.

Scribal writing (by his son R. Berel Soloveitchik), with four lines handwritten and signed by R. Yitzchak Ze'ev Soloveitchik.

Addressed to R. Yechezkel Abramsky in London. Response to a Torah letter, on topics in Kodashim.

The Brisker Rav apologizes for his late reply, since he was sick and unable to study R. Yechezkel Abramsky's book on Tosefta Tractate Chullin he had sent him.

After his signature, the Brisker Rav apologizes for having the letter written by a scribe, which was due to his sickness. He adds another two lines in his handwriting with thanks for R. Abramsky's assistance for his medical expenses, through R. Chaim Ozer of Vilna.

The present letter discusses R. Abramsky's novellae on Kodashim, later printed in Chazon Yechezkel on Zevachim in 1942. The present letter was first printed by R. Abramsky's disciple R. Moshe Mordechai Shulsinger in Peninei Rabbeinu HaGriz (Bnei Brak, 1992, pp. 151-153) and Mishmar HaLevi on Zevachim, Mahadura Tinyana (Bnei Brak, 2003, pp. 58-59).

R. Yitzchak Ze'ev Soloveitchik, the Brisker Rav (1886-1959), son of R. Chaim HaLevi of Brisk, and grandson of the Beit HaLevi. Already at a young age, still in his father's lifetime, he was considered one of the prominent Torah leaders of the generation. In 1919 (about the age of 32), he succeeded his forefathers as Rabbi of Brisk, and with his Torah authority, he governed all religious matters in his city and the entire region. He managed to escape the Holocaust together with some of his children who fled from Brisk to Vilna, from which they immigrated to Jerusalem in 1941. His authority was recognized by the entire Torah world in Eretz Israel and abroad. His books: Chidushei Maran Riz HaLevi on the Rambam and the Torah. His oral teachings were published as Chidushei HaGriz. His teachings serve to this day as a cornerstone of in-depth yeshiva learning and form the basis for the thought of large portions of Orthodox Jewry. He was famous for his searing fear of heaven and zeal for pure truth.

The recipient,
R. Yechezkel Abramsky (1886-1976), close disciple of R. Chaim of Brisk and close friend of his son R. Yitzchak Ze'ev. Shortly after his marriage, he traveled to Brisk to study under R. Chaim ca. 1910 (at the advice of his father-in-law R. Yisrael Yehonatan Yerushalimsky, a disciple of R. Chaim during his Volozhin period), where he stayed for some four months, after which point he became devoted to his Torah teachings for the rest of his life. While serving as Rabbi of Smilavichy, he visited his teacher R. Chaim, then staying in Minsk, for long periods, during which time he would clarify Torah topics with him. R. Yechezkel would say of his teacher R. Chaim's method of learning: "R. Chaim goes at once to the heart of the issue". R. Chaim greatly appreciated his disciple's wisdom, and in one letter he calls him a friend (Melech BeYofyo, p. 95). During those periods R. Abramsky became a close friend of his teacher's son, R. Yitzchak Ze'ev (R. Velvele), which led to some fifty years of friendship and a close correspondence. Some of their Torah discussions and correspondence are printed in Chidushei Maran Riz HaLevi. When the Brisker Rav fell sick with asthma, R. Abramsky followed R. Chaim Ozer's directive to raise funds for his medical expenses, as mentioned at the end of one of the present letters (see further: Lots 449 and 450). When R. Abramsky was living in Jerusalem (after he immigrated to Israel in 1951), they met often and dealt with Torah issues and public affairs together.

[1] double leaf (including 4 written pages). 20 cm. Good-fair condition. Folding marks. Tears, affecting text.

Five letters from R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, addressed to R. Yechezkel Abramsky, a rabbi of London and his intimate associate. Vilna, Sivan and Tamuz 1939.

Some letters handwritten and signed by R. Chaim Ozer, others written by R. Chaim Ozer's scribes with some lines in his handwriting and with his signature. The letters discuss various public and private affairs: allocation of funds for Polish yeshivas and Torah institutions, matters relating to the Vilna and London Beit Din (agency in sending a document of divorce, by R. Chanoch Henich Eiges, the Marcheshet), printing Responsa Achiezer Part III and R. Chaim Ozer's health condition, inquiring into a surgery undergone by R. Abramsky's eldest son, assistance for medical expenses of R. Yitzchak Ze'ev Soloveitchik, the Brisker Rav, and more.

The letter from 21st Sivan (on postcard) contains blessings for the recovery of R. Abramsky's eldest son and asks for an update on his health condition. The letter from 26th Sivan (also on postcard) expresses satisfaction that the surgery went well and adds further wishes for his recovery. In the letter from 6th Tamuz R. Chaim Ozer adds on the margins of the letter his satisfaction at the improving condition of his son and adds further wishes for his recovery.

In the letter from 6th Tamuz, R Chaim Ozer discusses the assembly that accepted R. Abramsky's proposal to send a representative to London for some months so that the Polish yeshivas receive less than their fair share in tzedakah distribution, who was to be either the "Rabbi of Krynki" [R. Chizkiyahu Yosef Mishkovsky] or R. Yosef Shuv [administrator of the Vaad HaYeshivot].

In the same letter R. Chaim Ozer discusses the need for financial support for the medical expenses of the R. Yitzchak Ze'ev Soloveitchik, the Brisker Rav. He also mentions that he asked R. Elchanan Wasserman and R. Aharon Kotler to involve themselves in another matter.

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 (then under Polish occupation) 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.

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. When the Brisker Rav fell sick with asthma, R. Abramsky followed R. Chaim Ozer's directive to raise funds for his medical expenses, as mentioned at the end of one of the present letters (see further in the previous lot). The present letters reflect some of their cooperation on behalf of the Polish yeshiva world.

5 letters, two on postcard and three on official stationery. Varying size and condition. Overall good condition.

Lengthy letter (2 leaves) handwritten and signed by R. Baruch Dov (Ber) Leibowitz, dean of the Knesset Beit Yitzchak yeshiva of Kamenets. [Kamenets], 21st Elul 1932.

Addressed to his relative R. Yechezkel Abramsky, author of Chazon Yechezkel, who escaped Russia for England that year, and was appointed Rabbi of the Machazikei HaDat community in London. Shanah Tovah letters, showering many heartfelt blessings upon him and his family. He asks him for to provide food for two rabbis suffering from hunger and sickness, R. Shlomo of Starobin in exile in Russia and R. Shemaiah Kovan, posek in Kiev.

He adds even more Shanah Tovah blessings, concluding with his signature, "Baruch Dov Leibowitz, dean of the holy Beit Yitzchak yeshiva, 21st Elul 1932".

R. Baruch Dov (Ber) Leibowitz (1864-1939), author of Birkat Shmuel, leading Torah disseminator in his times. He was a disciple of R. Chaim of Brisk in the Volozhin yeshiva, and the son-in-law of R. Avraham Yitzchak Zimmerman, Rabbi of Hlusk (son-in-law of R. Yaakov Moshe Direktor, Rabbi of Novaya Mysh). After his father-in-law went to serve as rabbi of Kremenchuk, he succeeded him in Hlusk and established a yeshiva. After a 13-year tenure, he was asked to head the Knesset Beit Yitzchak yeshiva in Slabodka. During World War I, he wandered with the yeshiva to Minsk, Kremenchuk and Vilna, before finally settling in Kamenets. He authored Birkat Shmuel on Talmudic topics. His teachings and writings are classics of in-depth yeshiva study.

The recipient of the letter,
R. Yechezkel Abramsky, Rabbi of Slutsk and London (1886-1976), was a relative of R. Baruch Ber by marriage, as Rebbetzin Beila Zimmerman of Kremenchuk, R. Baruch Ber's mother-in-law, was the sister of R. Yisrael Yaakov Yerushalimsky, R. Abramsky's father-in-law.

The subject of the letter,
R. Shlomo Landau Rabbi of Starobin (Minsk region), disciple of R. Baruch Ber in the Hlusk yeshiva and of R. Chaim Soloveitchik in Brisk. His son R. Chaim Grunem Landau was studying in the Kamenets yeshiva under R. Baruch Ber at the time, and married the daughter of R. Tzvi Pesach Frank in Jerusalem in 1936.

[2] leaves. Official stationery. 28 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Folding marks with some creases.

Letter handwritten and signed by Rebbetzin Feigel Leibowitz, widow of R. Baruch Ber, dean of Kamenets yeshiva. [Raseiniai (Lithuania), ca. Nisan 1940]. Yiddish.

Written on the (rare) printed stationery of the yeshiva, from its exile in Raseiniai, Lithuania during the Holocaust, with an image of her husband and a blessing for the deceased.

Addressed to her cousin and her family in London – Rebbetzin Hendel Reizel Abramsky, wife of R. Yechezkel Abramsky, head of the London Beit Din. In this emotional letter she expresses her pain and describes her difficulties after the sudden passing of her illustrious husband, as well as her concerns for her orphan grandchildren raised in her home, and her distress that her husband could not accompany them to their marriage [her grandchildren Rivkah and Yeshayah remained in Lithuania and were murdered in the Holocaust].

Rebbetzin Feiga Leibowitz (1872-1944; perished in the Holocaust), daughter of R. Avraham Yitzchak Zimmerman Rabbi of Hlusk and Kremenchuk (ca. 1850-1917). Her mother was the daughter of the "Tzaddik of Mush" R. Yaakov Moshe Direktor Rabbi of Novaya Mysh (1809-1879), father of R. Yisrael Yehonatan Yerushalimsky Rabbi of Ihumen (1860-1917), father of Rebbetzin Reizel Abramsky – the recipient of the letter.

At the outbreak of World War II, the Kamenets yeshiva fled to Lithuania (at the beginning of the Holocaust, many yeshivas fled Poland, which had been occupied and partitioned by the Germans and Russians, for Vilna and other cities in independent Lithuania). The Kamenets yeshiva fled at that time to Vilna together with the yeshiva dean R. Baruch Ber Leibowitz. After the passing of the yeshiva dean in Vilna on 5th Kislev (17 November 1939), the yeshiva began to be directed by his son-in-law, R. Reuven, together with his brothers-in-law R. Moshe Bernstein and R. Yaakov Moshe Leibowitz and the mashgiach R. Naftali Ze'ev HaKohen Leibowitz (brother-in-law of R. Baruch Ber, son-in-law of R. Avraham Yitzchak Zimmerman, Rabbi of Kremenchuk). The yeshiva later relocated to Raseiniai, at the instruction of the authorities to spread the refugees throughout Lithuania. After the Russian occupation of Lithuania, her sons and sons-in-law escaped and reached the United States and Eretz Israel, but Rebbetzin Leibowitz remained in Lithuania together with her orphan grandchildren, mentioned in the present letter, and was eventually murdered in the Kovno ghetto in 1944. Some students of the Kamenets yeshiva managed to flee with the yeshiva deans or with the Mir yeshiva to Japan and Shanghai, while the others were massacred after the German conquest of Lithuania in summer 1941.

[1] leaf. Official stationery. 29 cm. Good-fair condition. Folding marks.

Lengthy letter (2 pages), handwritten and signed by R. Isser Zalman Meltzer, dean of the Etz Chaim yeshiva. Jerusalem, 9th Nisan 1935.

Addressed to his friend R. Yechezkel Abramsky, author of Chazon Yechezkel, head rabbi of the Slutsk and London Batei Din (R. Isser Zalman's successor as Rabbi of Slutsk). R. Isser Zalman thanks him for his appreciation and notes to his Even HaAzel, mentioning his notes he had sent on Chazon Yechezkel Part I (see: Kedem, Auction 102, 7 May 2025, Lot 182), humbly apologizing for not having corresponded with him on Chazon Yechezkel Part II.

In the course of the letter, R. Isser Zalman brings up the difficult financial position of Torah institutions in Eretz Israel (due to that year's financial crisis), and the fact that the yeshiva deans and learners had not received salaries for many months. He asks R. Abramsky for assistance distributing the book in England, and in funding its printing.

R. Isser Zalman concludes the letter with festival blessings and his signature.

On the margins of the first page, he apologizes for the delay in sending his letter.

R. Isser Zalman Meltzer (1870-1953), author of Even HaAzel. A leading Torah scholar of Lithuania and Jerusalem, he was born in Mir and studied in the Volozhin yeshiva under the Netziv and R. Chaim of Brisk (who esteemed the young prodigy "Zunye" highly, and would say that "when Zunyele opens his mouth, the pipes of his brain open up" – as a student who increases his teachers' knowledge). After his marriage he served as the first yeshiva dean of the Knesset Yisrael yeshiva in Slabodka along with R. Moshe Mordechai Epstein, and later moved to Slutsk with 14 elite disciples, where he established a large yeshiva and subsequently succeeded the Ridvaz as Rabbi of the city. He immigrated to Jerusalem in 1924 and was appointed dean of the Etz Chaim yeshiva. He was also a leader of Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah, and father-in-law of R. Aharon Kotler, dean of the Kletsk and Lakewood yeshivas (and also headed the Independent Educational System).

The recipient,
R. Yechezkel Abramsky, author of Chazon Yechezkel (1886-1976), head rabbi of the Beit Din of Slutsk and London, was a friend of R. Isser Zalman from before World War I, when R. Isser Zalman served as Rabbi of Slutsk and R. Abramsky served as Rabbi of Smolyan and Smilavichy. In 1923, when R. Isser Zalman was obliged to flee the Bolsheviks in Russia, he recommended R. Abramsky to serve as his successor as Rabbi in Slutsk. During his tenure in Slutsk, he began his magnum opus, the Chazon Yechezkel on the Tosefta. The manuscript of the first part of Chazon Yechezkel was smuggled from Slutsk to R. Chaim Ozer in Vilna, who had it printed in Vilna in 1925 by R. Aharon Dov Alter Voronovsky (R. Abramsky's wife's cousin), R. Chaim Ozer's confidant and scribe. In 1930 R. Abramsky was arrested and exiled to Siberia by the Bolshevik authorities. When R. Abramsky was released in 1932, he first reached Lithuania and later that year traveled to serve as Rabbi of the Machazikei HaDat community in London, and from 1935 as head rabbi of the London Beit Din, until his retirement and immigration to Jerusalem in 1951.

[1] leaf, official stationery, written on both sides. 28 cm. Fair condition. Dampstains, wear and folding marks. Tears to folds.