Letter handwritten and signed by the Gaon Rabbi Aryeh Levin (Avi HaAssirin, the Father of the Prisoners), Jerusalem 1965

Letter handwritten and signed by the Gaon Rabbi Aryeh Levin (Avi HaAssirin, the Father of the Prisoners), Jerusalem 1965

Letter requesting financial support for the costs of a wedding, written by the Jerusalem educator Rabbi Yisrael Hirschman for his son’s wedding, addressed to the “Administrators of the Ezrat Torah institution”, from the 6th of Adar I, 1965, with a handwritten recommendation in block lettering by Rabbi Aryeh Levin with his handwritten signature, in which he writes “I have nothing to add with regard to the above request, all of what he says is true. The groom is an important person in the Beit Aryeh yeshiva, one of the greatest and best…and I pray that the shechina will reside in you and that with the merit of this mitzvah we will merit to see the joy of Zion in the joining of its children, amen.” Size: 18x28cm. Envelope and paper, folding creases, overall good condition.

The Jerusalem tzaddik Rabbi Aryeh Levin (1886-1969) was the son of Rabbi Binyamin Beinush. He was a mashgiach at the Etz Haim yeshiva and one of the most famous figures in the Holy City. He was known as the Father or Rabbi of the Prisoners because, for more than 25 years, even during the British Mandate period, h would visit every Shabbos to visit prisoners. He studied at the Volozhin yeshiva under Rabbi Refael Shapira, and was certified by Rabbi Haim Berlin. Upon the establishment of the State of Israel he established the Beit Aryeh yeshiva (later named after him). He was the father-in-law of the posek hador the Grish Elyashiv, and his descendants are gedolei Torah such as Rabbi Haim Kanievsky, Rabbi Yitzhak Zilberstein, and Rabbi Dov Kook of Tiberias, and others. His good deeds are the subject of many stories. His will said not to eulogize for him.