Auction 105 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Esther Scrolls and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Collection of Letters of Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski – The Anti-Shechitah Laws in Germany – 1934
Opening: $2,000
Sold for: $8,125
Including buyer's premium
Collection of letters from R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, regarding the anti-shechitah laws in Germany and other Ashkenazic countries, addressed to R. Yechezkel Abramsky in London. Vilna, Nisan-Iyar 1934.
The collection includes four complete letters, and three more postscript leaves to the same letters on the same subjects (all handwritten and signed by R. Chaim Ozer, apart from one handwritten by a scribe and signed by R. Chaim Ozer). Most of the letters relate to the struggle against the anti-Semitic laws outlawing shechitah in Germany and other countries, requiring stunning animals. One letter includes a copying of a lecture on the same topic, handwritten by a scribe of R. Chaim Ozer.
In the first letter, dated 2nd Nisan (in his handwriting, with his signature), he begins with the good news that R. Abramsky's eldest son was freed from forced labor in Russia, and expresses his hope that his younger son would be too [after R. Abramsky was freed from exile in Russia in 1932 along with his wife and two of his sons, his two elder sons were left in exile in Soviet Russia; the younger of the two, Yaakov David Abramsky, was exiled by the Soviets and was in mortal danger].
R. Chaim Ozer goes on to discuss the consequences of electric stunning for shechitah, and writes of a letter on the topic he had received from R. Yaakov Weinberg [the Seridei Esh]. R. Chaim Ozer adjures R. Abramsky not to answer the question before consulting together with him. R. Chaim Ozer mentions letters he had received from rabbis of Frankfurt and Berlin, noting that the mixed congregations tended to permit it, while the independent congregations opposed it. He states that the matter requires much deep thought on the fundamentals of Jewish shechitah.
In a postscript, apparently belonging to this letter, R. Chaim Ozer adds that he doesn't worry about the permissive view of the Chief Rabbi of England, as it wouldn't be taken into account, unless supported by R. Abramsky.
In a letter dated 3rd Nisan (handwritten by a scribe, with his own signature) R. Chaim Ozer denies a rumor that he had granted an approbation to an English publication of Mishnah Seder Nezikin and a chapter of Gemara (Chelek) in Sanhedrin. This letter includes a postscript leaf handwritten by R. Chaim Ozer on stunning of animals, repeating the need for discretion and asking him not to reveal the matter to Chief Rabbi H[ertz] before they consult with each other.
In the letter dated 11th Nisan, he writes (in his handwriting, with his signature) that he received a telegram from R. Abramsky and in response sent him a copying of his response to London and also to R. Munk in Berlin. He goes on to stress the need to be cautious before permitting stunning, as it was an innovation that affects the entire Jewish people. He discusses the writings that R. Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg had sent, and adds that he asked him to send them to the leading yeshiva deans in his own country, who were to gather to discuss the issue after Passover. He concludes with Passover blessings.
In another letter dated 3rd Iyar (in his handwriting, with his signature), R. Chaim Ozer discusses the printing of Chazon Yechezkel on Seder Moed, and on the gathering of yeshiva deans for the Torah scroll project [a Torah scroll in memory of the Chafetz Chaim, to raise funds to prevent yeshivas from collapse]. R. Chaim Ozer goes on to discuss the shechitah laws, stating that he received a telegram from the mixed and independent communities in Germany that they would meet on 9th Iyar to discuss the issue among themselves. He stresses the importance of the question which has ramifications on the entire Jewish world. R. Chaim Ozer goes on to express his hope for R. Abramsky's son to be freed from exile in Russia, with an additional response on Torah issues.
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 1906, 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 rabbis.
8 items, on official stationery, including 5 leaves signed by R. Chaim Ozer. Varying size and condition. Overall good condition.
Letters
Letters