Three Letters Handwritten by the Rogatchover, Sent to Rebbe Rashab of Lubavitch - Against Jewish Societies Wishing ...

Three Letters Handwritten by the Rogatchover, Sent to Rebbe Rashab of Lubavitch - Against Jewish Societies Wishing to Impinge on Torah True Education and Torah Study - St. Petersburg, 1917

Three letters handwritten and signed by the Rogatchover, R. Yosef Rosen, addressed to Rebbe Shalom Dov Ber Schneersohn - the Rashab of Lubavitch, regarding Jewish societies wishing to revise the traditional study programs of the Jewish schools in Russia. St. Petersburg, 1917.
The letters were written by the Rogatchover while he was staying in St. Petersburg, during WWI.
The background of the letters:
After the February Revolution which overthrew the Tsarist rule (March 1917), a democratic regime run by a Provisional government was established, and it removed any limitation on the rights of the Jews. This period of freedom only lasted seven months, until the second revolution - the October Revolution, after which the Bolsheviks rose to power and established the communist Soviet Union.
During that short period, when religious freedom was granted to Russian Jewry, various Jewish societies arose, including Zionist societies, societies of Russian maskilim and Orthodox societies. Rebbe Rashab stood then at the helm of intensive activity to thwart any attempts to revise and impinge upon Jewish education and religious institutions. Beginning from Nissan 1917, the Rashab corresponded extensively on the matter with the Torah leaders of the generation in Russia, and worked to convene a rabbinical conference to formulate a plan of action. A difference of opinion arose between him and R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, regarding the attitude to Agudath Yisrael. While R. Chaim Ozer wished to establish branches of Agudath Yisrael in every town and then call a meeting of all the representatives, the Rashab opposed the establishment of Agudath Yisrael in Russia, concerned that it would eventually incline to Zionism. After much deliberation, a conference was called for the month of Av in St. Petersburg. The Rashab, who was dissatisfied with the program of the conference, informed that he would not attend. Ultimately, the conference was postponed. In Elul, a conference of a different kind was convened in Moscow, attended by the Rashab and his entourage. The Rogatchover was closely associated with the Rashab (see sidebar), and he wrote the present letters during this period, in order to urge him to act on these issues. The letters discuss plans of action and reflect the Rogatchover's great concern of any breach to Torah observance and from the spiritual disaster which the new societies would cause.
The letters include:
1. Letter handwritten and signed by the Rogatchover, addressed to Rebbe Rashab. Petrograd [St. Petersburg], 23rd Nissan 1917. In this letter the Rogatchover urges the Rashab to act against the societies trying to harm Jewish education.
2. Letter handwritten and signed by the Rogatchover, addressed to Rebbe Rashab. Petrograd [St. Petersburg], 24th Iyar 1917. The Rogatchover expresses his pain about the publication of lampoons denying the Oral law.
3. Letter handwritten and signed by the Rogatchover, regarding a rabbinical conference. [St. Petersburg], 21st Tammuz 1917. The Rogatchover relates that rabbis asked for his approval for a conference they wished to arrange, but he disagreed with their plan of action.
The letters were first published in the Migdal Oz book by R. Yehoshua Mondschein.
3 letters (on official stationery of the Rogatchover). 26.5 cm. Overall good condition. Folding marks. Tears to folds, repaired with tape.

The Rogatchover - R. Yosef Rosen Rabbi of Dvinsk, Author of Tzofnat Pane'ach
R. Yosef Rosen (1858-1936) - known as the Rogatchover (after his birth town Rogatchov-Rahachow), was a Chabad-Kopust follower. His father took him as a child to the Tzemach Tzedek, who blessed him with exceptional scholarliness and instructed him to study Tractate Nazir (some say this was the reason the Rogatchover did not cut his hair). In his youth, he was a disciple of R. Yosef Dov Ber Soloveitchik, author of Beit HaLevi, alongside the latter's son R. Chaim of Brisk. From 1889, he served as rabbi of the Chabad Chassidic community in Dvinsk (Daugavpils), Latvia, alongside the Or Same'ach, a position he held for 40 years. A remarkable figure renowned for his tremendous sharpness and genius, he was well-versed in all areas of the Torah, down to its finest details, producing profound definitions, hypotheses and original methods of Torah study. Tales of his genius and indescribable diligence abound. His legendary brilliance was also highly regarded by the secular world in his days and Bialik reputedly said that "two Einsteins could be carved out from the mind of the Rogatchover". The Rogatchover dealt extensively in explaining the teachings of the Rambam and wrote numerous halachic responsa. His responsa and novellae were published in his Tzofnat Pane'ach series. His printed books are a small part of the incessant flow of the inexhaustible fountain of his Torah. Due to the profundity of his teachings and his concise, cryptic style of writing, several projects have risen in recent generations to decipher and explain his teachings, resulting in the publishing of annotated editions of his works.

The Rogatchover and the Rashab
Rebbe Rashab held the Rogatchover in very high esteem. R. Yaakov Landau Rabbi of Bnei Brak related in the name of the Rayatz that on one occasion, when the Rashab received a letter from the Rogatchover, he expressed great joy and exclaimed "the house is filled with light". In a letter to the Rogatchover, the Rashab addresses him as "my exalted and close friend, the great Torah scholar, renowned throughout the world…".
The attendants of the Rashab once saw him unusually happy, and asked him for the reason of his exceptional joy. He replied that he had received a letter from the Rogatchover that day, in which the latter had blessed him through the power of his Torah that he should see success in all his endeavors.
The Rogatchover also maintained close ties with the Rashab's son - Rebbe Rayatz, who referred to the Rogatchover with terms of great reverence, as well as with the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, with whom he exchanged extensive Torah correspondence.