Shanah Tovah letter from Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Brooklyn, New York, Elul 1957.

Typewritten on the Rebbe's official stationery, with his signature: "M.Schneerson", and his handwritten additions.

Addressed to R. Naftali Gluskin in Ramat HaSharon, with blessings for a Shanah Tovah and Ketuvah VaChatimah Tovah. At the beginning of the letter, the Rebbe added by hand the words: "Your letter has been received", and he added to the valediction: "[with blessing] for good tidings".

R. Naftali Gluskin (d. 1947), a student of the Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch yeshiva in Kremenchuk (1918-1919) and a disciple of the Rabbinical Seminary in the Chassidic town Nevel (1925-1927). Married Rebbetzin Tamar Ita, daughter of R. Shimon Moshe Diskin Rabbi of Lyakhavichy, a close friend of Rebbetzin Chanah, mother of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. In 1944-1945, when Chanah was widowed of her husband R. Levi Yitzchak in Almaty, Tamar Ita devotedly stood by her side, despite the risk involved. The Rebbetzin wrote to her in one of her letters: "I well remember how you related to me… at the time nobody dared to stand within my four cubits".

R. Naftali and his wife Tamar Ita left Russia in 1946. At first they stayed in the Wegscheid DP camp in Austria, and they later moved to France, where they founded educational institutions for Chabad girls. In 1949 they immigrated to Israel and settled in Ramat HaSharon, later moving to Bnei Brak where he worked as a shochet. R. Naftali disseminated Chassidut and his wife Tamar Ita continued to work as an educator, and she was a founder of the Beit Rivkah foundation in Kfar Chabad.

[1] leaf, official stationery. 22 cm. Good-fair condition. Folding marks. Stains and wear. Inscription on verso.