Four letters from R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski. Vilna, Cheshvan-Tevet 1933-1934.

Three handwritten and signed by R. Chaim Ozer, and a fourth (dated 14th Tevet) handwritten by his scribe, with several lines in his own handwriting and with his signature. Addressed to his intimate associate R. Yechezkel Abramsky, head of the London Beit Din. The letters discuss many public issues and halachic rulings, all discussing fundraising for Polish yeshivas, mustering support for funding of yeshivas by the Federation, and writing a Torah scroll in memory of the Chafetz Chaim for a worldwide fundraiser of the Vaad HaYeshivot.

The first letter, dated 4th Cheshvan, also includes halachic responsa relating to the legislation against shechitah: "Regarding the shechitah of birds by cutting the entire nape". At the end of the letter he addresses electric stunning: "Regarding your efforts to clarify the matter of electrocution, I ask you not to publish anything about this before informing me, since there is much to be concerned about in this, and I will yet be in touch with you. Your loving friend, seeking your welfare, Chaim Ozer Grodzinski".

The second letter, dated 14th Tevet, begins by addressing the printing of Chazon Yechezkel and the novellae of their teacher R. Chaim of Brisk: "…I was happy to hear that you are continuing to print the Tosefta, and that you receive every week a proof from the book of… R. Chaim Soloveitchik". He goes on to address the anti-shechitah laws: "Regarding the matter of shechitah, when you receive a response from Dr. Lieben of Prague and he explains the matter, please do me the favor of informing me what he was thinking from the beginning…". R. Chaim Ozer also discusses the Chafetz Chaim Torah scroll: "At the advice of my honorable brother-in-law R. Elchanan Wasserman, the sale of letters in the Torah scroll in the memory of the Chafetz Chaim should be publicized in London. And I addressed Mr. David Sassoon and other distinguished persons regarding this…". He writes further about the trip to London by R. Yechiel Michel Gordon on behalf of the Lomza yeshiva: "I beseech you on his behalf, his pressing situation is inestimable and unbelievable, as he is more than twenty thousand dollars in debt. He is altogether an impressive and pleasant person for whom it is difficult to burden others, but necessity cannot be blamed. And I hope you will do what you can on his behalf to save him and the yeshiva from the terrible crisis…".

In the third letter, dated 26th Tevet, R. Chaim Ozer writes: "I was happy to hear of the gathering of lovers of Torah, participated in by the Chief Rabbi, you and R. Feldman, regarding participation in the writing of the Torah scroll in memory of the Chafetz Chaim…". In the rest of the letter he goes on to discuss fundraising for the Ramailes yeshiva in Vilna, and the attempts of American rabbis to free R. Abramsky's son who had not yet left Soviet Russia. In the margins of the letter after the signature, he added three lines of Torah discussion regarding shechitah of consecrated animals.

In the fourth letter, dated 27th Tevet, R. Chaim Ozer writes as an addition to his previous letter that he looked at the booklets of Chazon Yechezkel on Pesachim, and asks him to also send the booklets on Tosefta Kodashim. "I also wish to inform you of the results of the meetings for publicizing participation in the Torah scroll in memory of the Chafetz Chaim, the fruits of which will be consecrated to the yeshivas…". He then goes on to discuss the fundraiser for the Ramailes yeshiva in Vilna.

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, by 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 world-spanning efforts 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 public and private affairs and assistance to Lithuanian and Polish yeshivas.

4 letters. Official stationery. 26 cm. Varying condition, good-fair to fair-good. Stains, wear and creases. Folding marks and tears, with slight loss of margins of some letters.