Letter from the Rebbe of Klausenberg (Cluj) - Netanya, 1966

Letter from the Rebbe of Klausenberg (Cluj) - Netanya, 1966
Letter signed by Rebbe Yekutiel Yehuda Halberstam. Netanya, 1966.
Typewritten on the Rebbe's official stationary and signed in his hand: "The small Yekutiel Yehuda". The content of the letter refers to the spiritual dangers of the Netanya beaches, "Even the beach near our community has been desecrated… it has become mixed [gender]… and it is forbidden to frequent…"
The Klausenburg-Sanz Rebbe, R. Yekutiel Yehuda Halberstam (1905-1994), was a prominent world-renowned rebbe. A venerable holy man and Torah scholar, he taught Torah and was active in many community projects. He was one of the primary rebuilders of Torah and Chassidic life during the fifty years following the Holocaust. He was the son of R. Zvi Halberstam, rabbi of Rudni, (son of R. Baruch of Gorlice, son of the Divrei Chaim of Sanz), and was married to the daughter of R. Chaim Zvi Teitelbaum, (author of Atzei Chaim), rabbi of Sighet. His wife and all eleven of his children perished during the Holocaust, after which he remarried the daughter of R. Shmuel David Unger, rabbi of Nitra. From his youth he was famed as an exceptional Torah genius, proficient in the entire Talmud and poskim. A holy person with outstanding fear of Heaven, he maintained his dignity even during the terrible Holocaust years. He continued his holy service of G-d, including many halachic stringencies, even while working in Nazi concentration camps.
After the Holocaust, he worked tirelessly to re-ignite the holy spark of the Jewish inmates in the German DP camps. He established rabbinical institutions, synagogues, kosher kitchens and Torah education institutes and would travel from camp to camp to reinforce religious practice and to uplift the broken hearts of She'erit HaPleita (the Holocaust survivors). Later, he traveled to the US and to Eretz Israel and established the large Sanz Chassidic communities in the US, Jerusalem and Netanya. Each community is home to many yeshivot, Torah institutions and chessed organizations. He was instrumental in founding the Laniado Hospital in Netanya, which follows his Halachic rulings and standards until today. In his senior years, he founded the global Mifal HaShas, which tests thousands of Torah students on their knowledge of the Talmud and halacha each month.
His teachings of halacha, Torah and Chassidut are compiled in the series of books: Shefa Chaim, Divrei Torah and Divrei Yatziv responsa. His sons and successors are the present Klausenburg Rebbes in Netanya and in the US.
Official stationary, 25 cm. Good-fair condition. Folding creases, wear and stains.