Three lengthy letters from R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski. Vilna, 3rd Kislev, 12th Kislev and 27th Kislev 1933.

Addressed to R. Yechezkel Abramsky, a rabbi of London and an intimate associate of his. The letters discuss various public affairs, mainly the personal issue of R. Abramsky, whose two eldest sons were left behind in exile in Soviet Russia, in particular his second son Yaakov David Abramsky, who was exiled by the Soviets and was in mortal danger.

Two of the letters are handwritten and signed by R. Chaim Ozer, while the third is handwritten by his scribe R. Alter Voronovsky, with a line handwritten and signed by R. Chaim Ozer. Two of the letters have several added lines from his relative R. Aharon Dov Alter Voronovsky (who signs with his initials) – confidant, scribe and secretary of R. Chaim Ozer.

In the first letter, dated 3rd Kislev, R. Chaim begins by telling how he was "occupied the whole week from a gathering of the leading yeshiva deans and rabbis which took place last week, to take counsel regarding the yeshivas which are suspended in thin air, and educational matters in our country". He goes on to request him to have the Committee in England approve the budget for the Ramailes yeshiva in Vilna – "for the yeshiva which is my responsibility". R. Chaim Ozer writes that he received his regards "from my brother-in-law the Gaon and Tzaddik R. E. Wasserman", who told him of his distress and concern for the welfare of R. Abramsky's son in exile. R. Chaim Ozer asks him to inform him of the details, as "perhaps I can make efforts on his behalf". He goes on to tell of various activities to save "the jailed Torah students" in Russia, on the part of various emissaries and heads of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis in the United States. He seeks to help Bentzion Krynfiss and his family, who had participated in the efforts to send food packages to Russian rabbis, and were endangered because "the Hitlerists suspect him of being aligned with the Communists, due to his efforts to send packages to Russia… and he is in great danger… and has to flee to England…". In the margins of the letter R. Chaim Ozer asks R. Abramsky to attain more addresses of Russian rabbis in order to send them food packages.

In the second letter, dated 12th Kislev (written by his scribe; in the margins, R. Chaim Ozer adds a handwritten apology: "due to an eye pain, I write at night by someone else"), he notes that he wrote to the Union of Rabbis in New York, asking them to work with alacrity on behalf of your son Y[aakov] D[avid]. Surely you will also write to them and your uncle R. Yosef Kanovitz to be vigilant". He proceeds to discuss assistance for the Ramailes yeshiva and the Krynfiss family.

Towards the end of the letter, R. Chaim Ozer discusses the Torah thoughts R. Abramsky had sent him, and apologizes that he was unable to study his novellae on the Tosefta, "…And I will return the printed sheets to you through your relative [R. Alter Voronovsky] as requested".

In the third letter, dated "3rd day of Chanukah", R. Chaim Ozer begins by recounting his occupations due to another rabbinical assembly held in Vilna the previous week, and the celebration for the beginning of writing of a Torah scroll in memory of the Chafetz Chaim – "A public Sefer Torah, the profit of which would go to benefit the yeshivas…". "Now regarding your exiled son, I will inform you that as I heard, your uncle R. Kanovitz was selected as head of the Union of Rabbis in America, son-in-law of the Ridvaz. And now we must address him by letter and press him to use every means… to save him from exile…". R. Chaim Ozer goes on to refer to his activity to save the same Bentzion Krynfiss, who was sending food packages, because "this is actual threat to life".

R. Chaim Ozer goes on to write that he returned the proofs of Tosefta Chazon Yechezkel to his relative R. Aharon Voronovsky, and says: "I looked at them and found straightforward and correct ideas". The letter concludes with blessings: "Signing with much blessing to you and all your dear family. May G-d do miracles and wonders for us as He did to our forefathers in those days at this time, and may all your sons recline like olive shoots at your table, as is the desire of your pure soul and that of your friend, esteeming and respecting you, seeking your welfare, Chaim Ozer Grodzinski".

On the verso of the third letter is another Torah letter handwritten by R. Chaim Ozer, regarding sacrifices, on the topic of an animal lacking a limb between slaughtering and receiving the blood. Among other things he cites an idea of "R. Eizik Kostyukovsky" [R. Yehoshua Eizik Kostyukovsky (1907-1941; perished in the Holocaust), a leading Torah scholar of the Mir yeshiva, where he was known as R. Eizel Vilner. Served as lecturer in the Lomza yeshiva headed by his father-in-law R. Yechiel Mordechai Gordon. Perished in the Holocaust with his entire family, in the Ponary massacre]. The present responsum was printed, with a few changes, by R. Chaim Ozer, in Responsa Achiezer, III (Vilna, 1939), within a lengthy discussion on this topic (section 30), composed of several letters on the issue.

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 1806, the "prodigy of Masty" Yechezkel Abramsky was forced to leave the Telshe yeshiva and flee to Vilna [which was then under Polish control] 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, through 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 every possible effort 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 wide-ranging public activities.

R. Abramsky's relative, who signed with his initials – R. Aharon Dov Alter Voronovsky (perished in the Holocaust) was a secretary and confidant of R. Chaim Ozer, and served as a scribe for his many letters. In 1925 R. Alter published Part I of his cousin R. Abramsky's Chazon Yechezkel from a manuscript smuggled from Russia. His father was R. Yitzchak Yaakov Voronovsky, author of Chelkat Yaakov (d. 1904), who served as Rabbi of Mush (Novaya Mysh) for 25 years, succeeding his father-in-law R. Yaakov Moshe Direktor Rabbi of Mush (grandfather of R. Abramsky's wife).

3 letters. Official stationery. 26 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains and wear. Tears to folds and margins.