Letter of Rabbi Yitzchak Ze'ev Soloveitchik, the Brisker Rav – Jerusalem, Tevet 1947 – Regarding the Statute for ...

Letter of Rabbi Yitzchak Ze'ev Soloveitchik, the Brisker Rav – Jerusalem, Tevet 1947 – Regarding the Statute for Jerusalem – Protecting Orthodox Jewry in Eretz Israel in the Wake of United Nations Trusteeship Council Resolutions to Internationalize Jerusalem

Lengthy letter (2 pages, 33 lines) handwritten and signed by R. Yitzchak Ze'ev Soloveitchik. Jerusalem, 3rd Tevet [16th December] 1947.

Addressed to his friend R. Yechezkel Abramsky, head rabbi of the London Beit Din. The letter addresses the difficult situation of Orthodox Jewry in Eretz Israel at the end of the British Mandate, and the need to preserve its independence from the Zionist organizations, during the establishment of the Statute for Jerusalem, following the United Nations resolution on November 29th, 1947 [about two weeks before this letter was written] to empower a Trusteeship Council to establish Jerusalem as an international city.

He tells R. Abramsky of the efforts thirty years earlier, headed by R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, to preserve Torah law in Eretz Israel. The British authorities at the time allowed Orthodox communities to separate from the secular-dominated Jewish National Council. With the change of regime, he predicts that the situation would fall apart, with the Zionists taking full control and the Orthodox communities losing their independent status in Jerusalem.

The Brisker Rav writes of expected dangers to the educational and yeshiva system, which was already facing difficulty due to lack of financial support for Orthodox education. He writes that perhaps Jerusalem would also face mandatory education under the new regime, "and for all this we must be vigilant… regarding things which are the very souls and lives of our children, as is understood to all…".

The Brisker Rav asks R. Abramsky to lobby the authorities in London, due to a newspaper report that the vice-chairman of the Trusteeship Council was an Englishman by the name of Sir Alan Burns [1887-1980, a senior British diplomat, a governor of several British colonies worldwide from 1924, and a representative of the Britain in the United Nations Trusteeship Council]. He asks him to lobby for the status quo to remain as is, noting that it would be easier for the English to retain the status quo on internal affairs.

He concludes with a blessing: "With a blessing of all good, I am his friend, esteeming and respecting him and seeking his welfare from heart and soul, Yitzchak Ze'ev son of… R. Chaim HaLevi Soloveitchik".

R. Yitzchak Ze'ev Soloveitchik, the Brisker Rav (1886-1959), son of R. Chaim HaLevi of Brisk, and grandson of the Beit HaLevi. Already at a young age, still in his father's lifetime, he was considered one of the prominent Torah leaders of the generation. In 1919 (about the age of 32), he succeeded his forefathers as Rabbi of Brisk, and with his Torah authority, he governed all religious matters in his city and the entire region. He managed to escape the Holocaust together with some of his children who fled from Brisk to Vilna, from which they immigrated to Jerusalem in 1941. His authority was recognized by the entire Torah world in Eretz Israel and abroad. His books: Chidushei Maran Riz HaLevi on the Rambam and the Torah. His oral teachings were published as Chidushei HaGriz. His teachings serve to this day as a cornerstone of in-depth yeshiva learning and form the basis for the thought of large portions of Orthodox Jewry. He was famous for his searing fear of heaven and zeal for pure truth.

The recipient, R. Yechezkel Abramsky (1886-1976), close disciple of R. Chaim of Brisk and close friend of his son R. Yitzchak Ze'ev. Shortly after his marriage, he traveled to Brisk to study under R. Chaim ca. 1910 (at the advice of his father-in-law R. Yisrael Yehonatan Yerushalimsky, a disciple of R. Chaim during his Volozhin period), where he stayed for some four months, after which point he became devoted to his Torah teachings for the rest of his life. While serving as Rabbi of Smilavichy, he visited his teacher R. Chaim, then staying in Minsk, for long periods, during which time he would clarify Torah topics with him. R. Yechezkel would say of his teacher R. Chaim's method of learning: "R. Chaim goes at once to the heart of the issue". R. Chaim greatly appreciated his disciple's wisdom, and in one letter he calls him a friend (Melech BeYofyo, p. 95). During those periods R. Abramsky became a close friend of his teacher's son, R. Yitzchak Ze'ev (R. Velvele), which led to some fifty years of friendship and a close correspondence. Some of their Torah discussions and correspondence are printed in Chidushei Maran Riz HaLevi. When R. Abramsky was living in Jerusalem (after he immigrated to Israel in 1951), they met often and dealt with Torah issues and public affairs together.

[1] leaf. Official stationery. 28 cm. Written on both sides. Good-fair condition. Stains. Folding marks and tears.

This letter, dated 3rd Tevet, is mentioned in the Brisker Rav's letter to R. Abramsky dated 23rd Tevet (printed in Igrot Maran Riz HaLevi, Jerusalem 2008, letter 132, where he writes: "…You have surely received my letter of 3rd Tever regarding the Statute for Jerusalem, and I await your response, although now the physical danger is capturing my full attention and does not leave room for thoughts on other matters…").