Letter of Wedding Wishes Handwritten and Signed by Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar

Letter (over 11 lines) handwritten and signed by Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar (Satu Mare). [Satmar, ca. 1934-1944].
Letter of wedding congratulations and Passover wishes, addressed to his cousin R. Yoel Ashkenazi. Written on the Rebbe's official stationery, with the printed heading: "Yoel Teitelbaum Rabbi of Satu Mare and the vicinity" (the letter was presumably written during his tenure as rabbi of Satmar, 1934-1944).
In this letter, the Rebbe blesses his relative, R. Yoel Ashkenazi of Tiberias, on the occasion of his daughter Leah's wedding: "…Inasmuch as the day of his daughter Leah's nuptials has come, I hereby extend my congratulations. May G-d help their union be successful… and may he merit to see from them blessed and upright descendants, and reap much pleasure and satisfaction from them and from all his offspring. May he celebrate a Kosher and joyful Passover, in accordance with his desire and the desire of his friend who seeks his wellbeing with much love, Yoel Teitelbaum".
Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar (1887-1979), a leader of his generation, president of the Eda HaCharedit and leader of American Orthodox Jewry, one of the founding pillars of Chassidic Jewry after the Holocaust.
Born in Sighet, he was the son of Rebbe Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the Kedushat Yom Tov, and grandson of Rebbe Yekutiel Yehuda, the Yitav Lev, who both served as rabbis of Sighet (Sighetu Marmației) and were leaders of Chassidic Jewry in the Maramureș region. He was renowned from his youth as a leading Torah scholar of his generation, for his perspicacity and intellectual capacities, as well as for his holiness and outstanding purity. After his marriage to the daughter of Rebbe Avraham Chaim Horowitz of Polaniec, he settled in Satmar and taught Torah and Chassidut to an elite group of disciples and followers. He served as rabbi of Irshava, Karaly (Carei; from 1925), and Satmar (Satu Mare; from 1934), managing in each of these places a large yeshiva and Chassidic court. He stood at the helm of faithful, uncompromising Orthodox Jewry in the Maramureș region. During the Holocaust, he was rescued through the famous Kastner Train, and after a journey through Bergen-Belsen, Switzerland and Eretz Israel, he reached the United States, where he established the largest Chassidic group in the world – Satmar Chassidut, until today the dominant faction in American Orthodox Jewry. He was a leading opponent of Zionism and of the founding of the State of Israel, and zealously led crucial battles for the preservation of the unique character of the Jewish people and its holiness, fearful for the honor of the Torah and the future of faithful Jewry. He was renowned as an exceptionally charitable person; his door was open to the poor and his ear attentive to the needy from every stream of the Jewish people. An outstanding Torah scholar, he responded to many halachic queries, and his writings were published in dozens of books: VaYoel Moshe, Responsa Divrei Yoel, Divrei Yoel on the Torah and more.
Recipient of the letter: R. Yoel Ashkenazi (1884-1970), a prominent Slonim Chassid in Tiberias. He was the cousin of the Rebbe of Satmar (Rebbetzin Chana Teitelbaum, the Rebbe's mother, was the daughter of R. Yoel Ashkenazi Rabbi of Zlotchov – author of Responsa Mahari Ashkenazi, Munkacs 1893. Her brother R. Baruch Ashkenazi was the father of R. Yoel Ashkenazi, recipient of this letter). The two cousins were named Yoel after their common grandfather. Over the years, the two maintained a close friendship, and corresponded extensively. When the Rebbe of Satmar visited Eretz Israel, he stayed by his cousin in Tiberias, and they enjoyed together interesting conversations. In his youth, R. Yoel had the merit of frequenting the courts of foremost and elder rebbes, and every utterance and practice he heard or observed were engraved in his sharp memory. Rebbes, Chassidim and men of stature would come to R. Yoel to hear his recollections. R. Yoel Ashkenazi was renowned for his wisdom, wit and rare sense of humor, and those standing in his vicinity were always seen joyful and laughing. A Tiberian tradition ascribes him the prank of writing the famous note containing the formula: "Na Nach Nachm Nachman MeUman", supposedly written by R. Nachman of Breslov to R. Yisrael Odesser. This is mentioned several times in the writings of R. Eliezer Shlomo Shick, who wrote: "R. Yoel Ashkenazi was the cousin of the holy rabbi of Satmar… he was a cheerful person, and saw how the young man Yisrael Ber Odesser was being harassed, he therefore inserted a note in his Likutei Moharan… it was only a well-intentioned prank which R. Yoel Ashkenazi orchestrated in attempt to cheer up R. Yisrael Ber Odesser…" (Asher BaNachal, part 79, p. 116).
[1] leaf, official stationery. 23.5 cm. Good condition. Light stains. Folding marks. Marginal tear, not affecting text. Verso strengthened with tape to one of the folding marks.