Letter of Lelov Rebbes and Leaders of the Chassidic Community in Jerusalem – Sivan 1905 – Opposing the ...

Letter of Lelov Rebbes and Leaders of the Chassidic Community in Jerusalem – Sivan 1905 – Opposing the Establishment of Secular Schools in Hebron – With Blessings for Supporters of Torah Institutions in Hebron: "…May You Be Saved Eternally with All Your Wishes for the Good with All Blessings"

Letter of leaders of the Chassidic community in Jerusalem, opposing the establishment of modern schools in Hebron, signed by Rebbe David Tzvi Shlomo Biderman of Lelov (along with his stamp), his brother Rebbe Alter Biderman, his brother R. Meir Adler, R. Elazar Natan Shapiro and R. Menachem Mendel Rubin (and their stamps). Jerusalem, 47th day of the Omer [3rd Sivan] 1905.

Draft of an announcement with additions and erasures [apparently never sent to press]: "Whose eye would not weep, and what man of heart will not be upset when seeing the lowly state of the holy city of Hebron… for the settlement's support has nearly collapsed… And we are frightful lest our mortal enemies surround us… to establish there houses of hell (secular schools)… to pollute the holy air with deathly poison, a city which, thank G-d, remains pure and holy…". The poster continues with a call to support the emissary "R. Sh. L." [apparently R. Shlomo Leib Eliezerov], who went to great lengths to support the Torah school and yeshiva.

The rabbis who signed bless the donors: "And in the merit of (the Torah) the great mitzvah, may you be saved eternally with all your wishes for the good, to be blessed with all blessings said and repeated for the reward of those who settle the Holy Land and work in support of the holy Torah, for the sake of Him Who is good to all, always, and may we all merit to see the cities of Judea and the comforts of Zion and Jerusalem speedily in our days…".

With signatures of the rabbis and rebbes: "David Tzvi Shlomo son of R. Elazar Menachem", "Elazar Natan Kahana Shapiro"; "Menachem Mendel Rubin"; "Meir Adler"; "Alter son of R. E[lazar] M[enachem]".

Rebbe David Tzvi Shlomo Biderman (1844-1918), son of Rebbe Elazar Menachem Mendel of Lelov (1827-1883), leader of the Chassidic communities of Jerusalem. R. David Tzvi was holy and pure from his youth. In 1850, when his grandfather Rebbe Moshele of Lelov travelled to Eretz Israel and took leave of Rebbe Yisrael of Ruzhin, the Ruzhiner said that the boy David has "shining, bright eyes". Over the years, he would travel from Jerusalem to Karlin and became one of the leading Chassidim of the Beit Aharon. His father, Rebbe Elazar Mendel, attested that he never ceased to see God as standing before him. The Yismach Yisrael of Aleksander dubbed him a Sefer Torah. R. Chaim Shmuel of Chęciny said that for many years he was the "Tzaddik of the generation". Upon his father’s death in 1883 he was appointed rebbe, and was the primary leader of the Chassidic community of Jerusalem.

R. Elazar Natan Kahana-Shapira (ca. 1820-1917), father of the Kahana-Shapira family in Jerusalem. He immigrated to Eretz Israel in the early 1840s along with his father, R. Yechiel Asher Shmuel Kahana-Shapira Rabbi of Żalin (d. 1852), and was a leader of the Chassidic community in Jerusalem.

R. Menachem Mendel Rubin (ca. 1850-1915), a leader of the Chassidic community in Jerusalem, author of Masa Meron (Jerusalem, 1889). Son of R. Shmuel Aharon Rubin, Rabbi of Korczyna (ca. 1823-1877).

R. Meir Shlomo Yehudah Adler (d. 1922), son-in-law of Rebbe Elazar Menachem Biderman of Lelov. Established the Chayei Olam yeshiva in Jerusalem along with his brother-in-law Rebbe David Tzvi Shlomo of Lelov.

Rebbe Alter Biderman of Lelov-Sosnowitz (1862-1933), son of R. Elazar Menachem Biderman of Lelov and Jerusalem. Although his name was Avraham Betzalel Natan Nata, he was known as Alter (and sometimes would only sign his name Alter). In 1894 he left Eretz Israel for four years. At the beginning of World War I he traveled to Poland and settled in Sosnowitz (Sosnowiec), and soon became known as "the rebbe from Eretz Israel" and earned the reputation of a wonder-worker. His customs and dress followed that of Jerusalem. A year and a half after his passing on 20th Kislev 1935, his body was brought to Eretz Israel for burial on the Mount of Olives, and the Chevra Kadisha attested that his body was complete and free of decay. He was succeeded in Sosnowitz by his nephew R. Mordechai son of his brother R. Yerachmiel Yosef.

Mentioned in the letter, R. Shlomo Yehudah Leib Eliezerov (1863-1952), rabbi and leader of the Chabad and Ashkenazi community in Hebron, and emissary to the Jewish community of Bukhara-Samarkand, founder of the Magen Avot and Torat Emet yeshivas in Hebron. His father was R. Eliezer Shimon Kazarnovsky, grandson of Rebbetzin Menuchah Rachel Slonim, daughter of the Mitteler Rebbe. In 1873, at the age of 10, he immigrated with his parents to Eretz Israel and settled in Hebron. He studied Torah under the rabbis of Hebron – R. Shimon Menashe Chaikin and R. Eliyahu Mani. He traveled to Uzbekistan as an emissary for the Sephardic community in Hebron, and in 1897 he was appointed Chief Rabbi of Bukhara-Samarkand, where he changed his surname to Eliezerov (after his father). His halachic responsa are printed in She'elat Shlomo (Jerusalem 2002).

[1] leaf. 23 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Wear and minor tears.