Typewritten letter, with handwritten corrections by R. Yechezkel Abramsky – draft of a letter of Torah leaders in Israel opposing participation in the inauguration of Heichal Shlomo in Jerusalem. [Jerusalem, Adar 1958].

Heichal Shlomo, the former seat of the Chief Rabbinate and Supreme Beit Din of Israel, was inaugurated in 1958, with the participation of rabbis and public figures worldwide. The plan of its founders to create an "international spiritual center" drew the opposition of R. Yitzchak Ze'ev Soloveitchik, the Brisker Rav, out of concern for an attempt to create a new Sanhedrin.

On 7th Adar, the notice of Torah leaders forbidding participation in the inauguration ceremony was published. The present leaf is the draft of the text that was eventually signed by seven Torah leaders in Jerusalem: R. Yitzchak Ze'ev Soloveitchik, the Brisker Rav; R. Akiva Sofer of Pressburg; R. Zalman Sorotzkin of Lutsk; R. Yechezkel Abramsky of London; R. Eliezer Yehudah Finkel, dean of the Mir yeshiva; R. Yechezkel Sarna, dean of the Hebron yeshiva; and R. Dov Berish Weidenfeld of Tchebin. This notice was published in contemporary newspapers, and published as a facsimile in several books.

The present draft was apparently submitted for editing to R. Abramsky by the Brisker Rav, who had initiated the letter. The present leaf contains several handwritten glosses by R. Abramsky, most of which were integrated into the final text of the notice (see Hebrew description), while some were apparently not accepted by the Brisker Rav.

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 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, including the Brisker Rav's campaign against establishing an "international spiritual center" for fear of marginalizing the poskim of the generation.

[1] leaf. 27.5 cm. Typewritten on both sides. Thin paper. Good-fair condition. Folding marks and creases.