Letter from Rabbi Chaim Berlin - Heter Me'ah Rabbanim on behalf of his Father the Netziv - Volozhin, 1891

Printed postcard concerning Heter Me'ah Rabbanim, containing a request to concur with the ruling of R. Tzvi Hirsch Plato Rabbi of Cologne, allowing a man "whose wife had lost her mind, to marry another woman…". With approx. 7 lines handwritten and signed by R. Chaim Berlin, writing on behalf of his father the Netziv. Volozhin, Sivan [1891]. "…and in so far as my father, the great Torah scholar, rabbi and yeshiva dean of this city, is not home at the moment, and I, his son, am replacing him in the leadership of the city and holy yeshiva, I am therefore signing in his name… so says Chaim son of R. Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, previously rabbi of Moscow, presently residing in Volozhin". R. Chaim Berlin (1832-1912, Otzar HaRabbanim 5925), foremost Torah scholar in his generation, was an illustrious Torah figure of Lithuania and Jerusalem. Eldest son of the Netziv of Volozhin. He served as chief rabbi of Moscow, and his Torah influence spread throughout Russia. He served for a while as yeshiva dean and rabbi in Volozhin, in view of the plans of his father, the Netziv, to hand over to him all his responsibilities in leading the yeshiva and as rabbi of the city, but the plans did not come to fruition since a short while later, the yeshiva was shut down by government order, and the Netziv and his son were barred from residing in Volozhin. The Netziv went to Warsaw, and his son R. Chaim Berlin was appointed rabbi of Kobryn. In 1896, he went to serve as rabbi of and Yelisavetgrad (Kropyvnytskyi), and in 1906, he immigrated to Jerusalem, where he soon became recognized as a leading rabbinic authority in the city. Postcard. Approx. 14X9 cm. Good condition. Light creases.