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Letter of Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski to the Chief Rabbi of Britain – On the Anti-Shechitah Laws in Poland – 1938
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Letter from R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, regarding the law proposed in the Polish Sejm to forbid Jewish shechitah. Vilna, Nisan 1938.
The letter is addressed to Rabbi Dr. Joseph Herman Hertz, Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, asking him to have English officials exert their influence on the Polish government to prevent the passing of the law proposed by the anti-Semitic parties in the Polish Sejm outlawing shechitah.
R. Chaim Ozer writes to him (scribe's handwriting, with two lines in his own handwriting with his signature) regarding the law, which is likely to be passed in the future, despite the Polish government's previous opposition to it, due to a rise in hatred "on all sides, east and west" [referring to Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany].
R. Grodzinski presents the Chief Rabbi with a plan to influence the foreign ministers through diplomatic channels.
R. Chaim adds his own handwritten blessings for the upcoming festival of Passover, concluding with his signature.
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 letter, Rabbi Dr. Joseph Herman Hertz (1872-1946), was born in Hungary, immigrating and serving in various rabbinic positions in the United States, South Africa and finally England, where he was appointed Chief Rabbi of London and the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire.
R. Hertz was a bold supporter of the Jewish people worldwide and the Zionist movement. He worked together with the rabbis of England to strengthen religious observance, opposing trends of reformation. In his (English) writings and commentaries, he denounced Biblical critics and demonstrated the belief in G-d and the divine Torah.
[1] leaf. Official stationery. 28 cm. Good-fair condition. Light stains. Folding marks. Wear and minor tears to folds and margins.
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