Letter Handwritten and Signed by Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah Schneersohn (Wife of Rebbe Rashab) of Lubavitch – Riga ...

Letter Handwritten and Signed by Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah Schneersohn (Wife of Rebbe Rashab) of Lubavitch – Riga, 1929 – To R. Azriel Zelig Slonim – "I Received with Much Delight His Congratulations for the Wedding of My Granddaughter Chaya Mushka with Her Relative Menachem Mendel"

Letter (15 lines) handwritten and signed by Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah Schneersohn, wife of Rebbe Rashab of Lubavitch. Riga, Motzaei Shabbat, 2nd Shevat 1929. Hebrew and Yiddish.
Addressed to R. Azriel Zelig Slonim, in response to his congratulations on the occasion of the wedding of her granddaughter Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, daughter of Rebbe Rayatz, to R. Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, future Lubavitcher Rebbe (the wedding took place two months earlier, on 14th Kislev 1928, in Warsaw. R. Slonim had been unable to attend since he was on a mission in Brussels at that time).
In her letter, the Rebbetzin thanks him for his Mazal Tov wishes, "which I received with much delight", and blesses the young couple and the father of the bride: "May G-d help that the blessings of our friends be fulfilled in the young couple, may they live in happiness and see blessed descendants. May my son [Rebbe Rayatz] reap much satisfaction from his children". She then requests "pray for the wellbeing of my son and his family members. May G-d grant us to hear only good from one another".
The Rebbetzin concludes with prayers on behalf of the Chassidim who remained behind the Iron Curtain: "May G-d have mercy on our Chassidim in general and on Russian Jewry in particular, that the persecution on the yeshivot and their deans [should cease], as well as the imprisonments which deplete all one's health and courage".

Rebbetzin Shterna Sarah Schneersohn (1860-1942), wife of Rebbe Rashab and mother of Rebbe Rayatz. She was the granddaughter of the Tzemach Tzedek of Lubavitch and great-granddaughter of the Mitteler Rebbe. She supported and assisted her husband in all his activities.

R. Azriel Zelig Slonim (1897-1972), a prominent Chabad communal worker, director of Kollel Chabad, founder of Irgun Neshei UBnot Chabad and of Chikun Chabad in Jerusalem. He travelled around the world to raise funds and strengthen Jewish life in the most far-flung places, building mikvaot, assigning rabbis and shochetim, and setting up Torah classes.

[1] leaf. 27 cm. Fair-poor condition. Folding marks. Tears to folds, affecting text, repaired with transparent tape. Filing holes, affecting several characters. Marginal open tears. Stains and wear.