Auction 105 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Esther Scrolls and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Letter of the Steipler Gaon to His Mechutan Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv – Request to Save Yeshiva from Collapse – Bnei Brak, 1975
Opening: $600
Sold for: $1,750
Including buyer's premium
Letter (18 lines) handwritten and fully signed by R. Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky (the Steipler Gaon), addressed to his mechutan R. Yosef Shalom Elyashiv. Bnei Brak, Iyar 1975.
Deletions and corrections in original (handwritten by the Steipler). An appeal from the principal of an Israeli yeshiva (the yeshiva's name is deleted by another hand) who was concerned that the yeshiva would collapse. One of the lecturers left to serve in another yeshiva in Jerusalem, and some of his close students decided to follow him and encouraged their friends to do the same, leading to about thirty students leaving the yeshiva, which could bring the yeshiva into disarray. They asked R. Yisrael Yaakov Kanievsky to ask R. Yosef Shalom Elyashiv to settle the matter in such a way as not to cause the first yeshiva to collapse.
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 recipient of the letter, R. Yosef Shalom Elyashiv (1910-2012), father-in-law of the Steipler's son, R. Chaim Kanievsky (1928-2022). The Steipler and R. Elyashiv were close friends and had a voluminous and warm correspondence on Torah and personal affairs. The Steipler had a high esteem for R. Elyashiv, and forwarded many halachic queries to him, as well as requests for prayer and blessing.
1 leaf (from a notebook). 21.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains and wear. Folding marks, with small tear to center of one fold. Fading of ink to some words.
Letters
Letters