Withdrawn - Letter from R. Refael HaKohen, Rabbi of Hamburg (Disciple of the Shaagat Aryeh and Teacher of Rabbi ...

Withdrawn - Letter from R. Refael HaKohen, Rabbi of Hamburg (Disciple of the Shaagat Aryeh and Teacher of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin) – Hamburg, 1784

This lot has been withdrawn from the auction.

Brief letter signed by R. Refael Kohen, addressed to the leaders of the Three Communities (Altona, Hamburg, Wandsbek). [Hamburg], Av 1784.
Letter requesting and authorizing the transfer of his salary through his attendant: "Twofold greetings to the respected leaders of this community of Altona and Hamburg. Their honor should kindly give my attendant, bearer of this letter, the sum of three hundred and fifty Courant mark for my salary. Today, Wednesday, Av 10, 1784. So says Refael Kohen".
R. Refael HaKohen of Hamburg (1722-1803) was a leading Torah scholar in the times of the Noda BiYehuda, the Shaagat Aryeh and the Gaon of Vilna. Close disciple of the Shaagat Aryeh, and a teacher of R. Chaim of Volozhin. He served as rabbi and dean in Minsk and several other Lithuanian cities. In 1773, he went to serve as rabbi of Poznań, and in 1776, was appointed rabbi of the joint community of Altona-Hamburg-Wandsbek in Germany. His books include: Torat Yekutiel, Responsa VeShav HaKohen, Responsa She'elat HaKohanim Torah, Daat Kedoshim, Marpe Lashon and others. His biography was recorded in Zecher Tzadik (Vilna, 1879).
His father was R. Yekutiel Süsskind Katz, Rabbi of Riga and Lipland, scion of an established lineage of Kohanim named Katz (Kohen Tzedek – true Kohen, descendants of this family include many established Kohanim of Lithuania including: R. Zecharia Mendel Katz Rabbi of Radin, R. Yisrael Meir HaKohen the Chafetz Chaim, R. Dov Katz and R. David Kohen HaNazir). At the age of 12, he was already a disciple of his relative the Shaagat Aryeh, then dean of the Minsk yeshiva, and became one of his foremost disciples. When the Shaagat Aryeh left Minsk in 1742, R. Refael succeeded him at the young age of 19. He later served as rabbi of Rakaw (Minsk region), and in 1747, was appointed Rabbi of Vilkomir (Ukmergė), a position he held for ten years, with many outstanding Torah scholars studying under him. From 1757, he served as rabbi of the Upper Minsk region. R. Chaim of Volozhin studied under him in his youth (in one of his responsa, R. Chaim writes: "I, the small one, attended the eminent Kohen when he was in our country, and I am obliged in his honor just like the honor of Heaven". Chut HaMeshulash, section 9). In 1763, he acceded the Pinsk rabbinate (and in that period met with the Maggid of Mezeritch, see below). In 1773, he went to serve in the rabbinate of Poznań, and in 1776, of the Three Communities, which he directed for close to thirty years, with wisdom and assertiveness. He was reputed for his opposition of Moses Mendelssohn's Haskalah movement, issuing a ban on anyone who would read his German translation of the Torah.
R. Refael HaKohen was revered by all Jewish sects in that generation (excluding the Maskilim, who opposed him and circulated polemic books and lampoons against him), and refused to be involved in the dispute between Chassidim and their opponents. He was very friendly with R. Eliyahu, the Gaon of Vilna, who held him in high esteem, yet conversely met with the Maggid of Mezeritch (regarding this meeting and his attitude to the Chassidic movement, varying and contradictory traditions exist – see: R. Y. Mondshine, in his article R. Refael HaKohen of Hamburg and his attitude to Chassidism, Kerem Chabad, 1992, part IV, pp. 117-123; R. D. Kamenetsky, in his article R. Refael HaKohen and the Gra, Yeshurun, 21, 2009, pp. 840-857; R. D. Eliach, HaGaon, Part III, pp. 915-916 and note 65). R. Refael Natan Nata Rabinowitz, author of Dikdukei Sofrim, described him as a faithful friend of the Gaon of Vilna, even though deep down, he was somewhat inclined to the Chassidic way, and travelled to greet R. Ber in Mezeritch (R. N.N. Rabinowitz, Marginalia to Shem HaGedolim, Yeshurun, 23, Elul 2010, p. 273 – also regarding the continuation of the account of his debates with the Gaon of Vilna on this topic). Chassidic tradition relates that his familiarity with Chassidism and the celebrated meeting were a consequence of R. Zusha of Anipoli's visit to him, at the behest of his teacher the Maggid. Reputedly, R. Refael refused the Vilna Gaon's request that he join the ban on Chassidism (see preface of Beit Rebbi, Berdychiv, 1902, p. 10).
19X12 cm. 3 autograph lines. Good condition.
A similar letter from late 1784 appears in R. R. D. Dessler's Shenot Dor VaDor, 2, Jerusalem 2004, pp. 197-198.