Letter handwritten and signed by Rebbe Avraham Weinberg of Slonim (the first), author of Yesod HaAvodah, including a section of a Chassidic essay which he sent his Chassidim. [Slonim, Elul 1871].
First leaf of a double leaf. Part of a lengthy letter (presumably several pages long) which the rebbe sent to his Chassidim in Tiberias, comprising a personal letter, with regards and blessings, and a lengthy and profound Chassidic essay on Kabbalah and worship of G-d. The first page contains the personal letter which preceded the Chassidic essay, with two signatures of the rebbe, once his full signature (with the name of his father), and once "Avraham" alone.
The letter with the essay was sent to Slonim Chassidim in Tiberias, and to the three heads of Kollel Reisin in Tiberias: R. Mordechai of Vileyka, R. Menachem Mendel Epstein of Minsk and R. Shmuel Shemaya HaKohen Katz of Slonim.
In the personal letter on the first page, the rebbe extends blessings and regards to his relatives and friends in Tiberias: to his brother-in-law R. Elchanan Isser; to his sister Esther Shprintza; to his sister's son-in-law "beloved man of desirable qualities" – R. Mordechai Lieder – "R. Motke"; to R. Yitzchak (presumably referring to the son of R. Elchanan from his first marriage); to R. Aharon Shmuel of Vileyka (brother of R. Mordechai of Vileyka), and to the "brilliant son-in-law" of R. Aharon Shmuel – R. Todros; to his grandson "the young, talented and outstanding Torah scholar" – R. Noach Weinberg (son of his son R. Michel Aharon, father of the Birkat Avraham).
In his letter, the rebbe blesses his sister Esther Shprintza and her husband (from her second marriage) – his brother-in-law R. Elchanan Isser "may G-d remember them in this coming year with offspring… and may He bless them once again with an abundant measure of good" (regarding the background of this blessing, see enclosed material).
The rebbe adds further blessings: "A good inscription and sealing in the book of Tzaddikim, and wellbeing of all his family members"; " May G-d bless you and guard you from any harm, and grant you a good inscription and sealing, and may you succeed wherever you turn".
At the end of the page, the rebbe writes words of ethics and encouragement to his grandson R. Noach: "Fear G-d, my son, and subjugate the bad inclination to the good inclination, and be watchful of the purity of thought and character, and remember the saying of the sages, that one who comes to purify himself receives Heavenly assistance, and one who sanctifies himself below, is sanctified from above. An eye sees and an ear hears one who strives with all his might to grow in fear of G-d and service of the heart. Your grandfather, Avraham".
On verso of the letter is a section of a profound essay on Kabbalah and Chassidut (this page comprises the lower half of the large first page of a multi-page essay). In this essay, the rebbe explains the Chassidic approach to worship of G-d through the kabbalistic concept of Taamim, Nekudot, Tagim and Otiyot. This essay was published in the letters section of Yesod HaAvodah, letter 68.
The personal letter was not printed there, and it was presumably never published.
(In the printed essay, the publisher was unsure of how to decipher one word, and he suggested various possibilities in a marginal note. In this original letter, the correct word is easily identifiable – and it is not one of the options suggested by the publisher).
Rebbe Avraham Weinberg, first rebbe of Slonim, author of Yesod HaAvodah (1803-1883), a brilliant and holy kabbalist, and an original and innovative scholar. He was a close disciple of his teachers, Rebbe Noach of Lechovitz and R. Moshe of Kobryn. In the 1830s, he headed the Anaf Etz Chaim yeshiva in his hometown of Slonim, a branch of the renowned Etz Chaim yeshiva in Volozhin (Moshe Tzinovitz, Etz Chaim, p. 433; Aharon Surasky, Marbitzei Torah MeOlam HaChassidut, I, pp. 177, 183-186). He would devote all his strength to Torah study, studying for eighteen hours a day until absolute exhaustion. In his youth, he studied Torah under extreme deprivation. In his old age, when one of his disciples remarked that one can discern on him revelations of Divine Inspiration, he replied: "I don't know about Divine Inspiration, but I did study Torah under deprivation, and the sages state that whoever studies Torah under deprivation will be satiated from the splendor of the Divine presence". After the passing of his teacher, R. Moshe of Kobryn, in Nissan 1858, he established his court in Slonim, and most of the Kobryn Chassidim accepted his authority and began frequenting his court. He would conduct Tish not only on Shabbat and festivals, but also on weekdays. Like an ever-flowing wellspring, he delivered many extremely profound Chassidic discourses, and produced many compositions on all parts of the Torah (most were lost during the Holocaust). Some of his writings were published after his passing. His renowned books are Chessed LeAvraham, a profound, very abstract and impenetrable book on Kabbalah and philosophy; Yesod HaAvodah – on the topic of studying Torah for the sake of Heaven and Chassidic principles on the worship of G-d (in this book, he sharply criticizes the book Nefesh HaChaim by R. Chaim of Volozhin, primarily on his views on the study of Torah for the sake of Heaven; the original manuscript of this work reputedly states several times "contrary to the Nefesh HaChaim"); Be'er Avraham on Mechilta. After the Holocaust, his writings were published in additional volumes of Chessed LeAvraham and Be'er Avraham.
In 1870-1874, the Yesod HaAvodah sent an elite group of young, select disciples, including several grandsons and relatives, to Tiberias. This group was named Kollel Reisin, and the rebbe arranged fixed annual fundraising and trips of emissaries so that the members of the Kollel be free to fulfill their mission of studying Torah and worshipping G-d in peace and serenity. The rebbe corresponded continuously with this group on profound topics of Chassidut and worship of G-d. Some of these letters (such as the present letter) were printed after his passing in his book Yesod HaAvodah (in the letters section), as well as at the end of the book Be'er Avraham on the Torah.
[1] leaf. 20.5 cm. Fair condition. Stains and wear. Marginal tears and folding marks, affecting text, professionally restored with paper. Ink faded. Some words illegible.