Letter from the Tzemach Tzedek, Rebbe of Lubavitch – With Blessings "May G-d Send Him a Complete Recovery"

Letter (unsigned autograph – 6 lines) handwritten by Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, the Tzemach Tzedek of Lubavitch. Written at the foot of a letter containing a query from R. Yehoshua Eliyahu Rabbi of Horki. Horki [and Lubavitch, ca. 1842-1855].
The upper part of the page contains a letter handwritten and signed by R. Yehoshua Eliyahu Rabbi of Horki. The opening lines of the asker's letter are torn off and lacking (these lines may have been excised by the Tzemach Tzedek, who in his humility, preferred to remove the first lines of the letters containing titles of honor, which he found repulsive). R. Yehoshua Eliyahu of Horki seeks the counsel of his teacher the Rebbe, regarding a complex medical question. He describes the severe chronic illness he has been suffering from for many years, with the treatment of leading physicians. Following a renewed outbreak of the illness, his friends (fellow Chabad Chassidim in Horki) summoned the town doctor, and the new treatment he suggested alleviated his suffering, while simultaneously generating new side effects. R. Yehoshua Eliyahu asks the Rebbe whether to rely on the local doctor, or to turn to professors who had helped him in the past, who were more proficient in his case. The Chassid asks his rebbe to pray and arouse Heavenly mercy for him. The letter is signed: "So is the request of… his servant, who frequents his court and subjects himself to his authority. Yehoshua Eli. son of R. Yosef of Horki".
The Tzemach Tzedek responded in his own handwriting on the leaf of the query, and writes that despite his reservations, it is preferable to be treated by the local doctor: "On the contrary, the local doctor is preferable to a doctor who lives in a distant location, as it says in the Talmud… and though one can argue that in the case of a well-known doctor, it is different… nevertheless, since at the moment there is no other option, it is correct to avail himself to his services, especially since many members of our community agree to this, and perhaps he has the prescriptions from the inspector (district physician), he could show them to the local doctor, and may G-d send him a complete recovery…".
R. Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, the Tzemach Tzedek of Lubavitch (1789-1866) – third rebbe in the Chabad Chassidic dynasty. Grandson and close disciple of Rebbe Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the Baal HaTanya, and son-in-law of his uncle, the Mitteler Rebbe, R. Dov Ber Shneuri. He was orphaned of his mother at the age of three, and was raised as a cherished son in the home of his grandfather the Baal HaTanya, remaining faithfully at his side for many years. After the passing of his father-in-law the Mitteler Rebbe in 1827, he began leading the Chabad Chassidism, a position he held for over 36 years.
During the Tzemach Tzedek's leadership, the Chabad Chassidic court expanded greatly, until it became the largest faction of Russian Jewry. Hundreds of thousands of Jews from throughout Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine followed the Tzemach Tzedek, cleaving to him with absolute devotion. Apart from serving as rebbe and guide for his Chassidim, the Tzemach Tzedek was a leading halachic authority of his generation. He issued thousands of responsa (in response to queries he received from rabbis and dayanim throughout Eastern-European countries). The Tzemach Tzedek also disseminated the teachings of his grandfather the Baal HaTanya, whether via his thousands of oral discourses, or through his prolific writing – in Halacha, Chassidism and Kabbalah.
The Tzemach Tzedek was the authoritative figure in all personal and communal matters of Belarus Jewry – "Every marital match, divorce and business deal, was only concluded with his blessing. Every dispute was brought to be judged before him. Without his approbation, no community appointed a rabbi nor Shochet… all the needs of the Jewish people were beknown to him, their business dealings, familial and communal lives" (Alexander Ziskind Rabinowitz – Azar, History of the Schneersohn Family, HaAsif, 1889, p. 166). In 1843, he spent a half a year in St. Petersburg together with R. Yitzchak of Volozhin, participating in various conferences convened by the Tsarist government, to determine many crucial communal matters relating to Russian Jewry.
The Tzemach Tzedek earnt the reputation of a holy, G-dly man, benefitting from Divine Inspiration and effecting salvations, whose prayers and blessings did not go unanswered. His fame spread as a wonder-worker even amongst the non-Jews. A Russian, anti-Semitic journalist named Stanislav Stanislavovich Okreitz (Станислав Станиславович Окрейц; 1836-1922) describes the Tzemach Tzedek, whom he met in person: "The righteous man of Lubavitch was a historic, legendary figure, famous throughout north-western Russia. Wondrous stories surrounding him abound, regarding his holiness, his power to heal incurable illnesses, and particularly his ability to foresee the future. He predicted that the governor of Gomel would be dismissed, and though it seems distinctly unrealistic… his prophecy was realized in full". Stanislav further describes in great detail his visit with the Tzemach Tzedek at the end of his life, depicting how the rebbe read his palm and predicted his future and fate. He attests that the Rebbe's strange prophecies were indeed totally fulfilled (Istorichesky Vestnik [Исторический вестник], December 1905. Translated from Russian and printed in various Chabad publications. See: Heichal HaBaal Shem Tov, 18, pp. 130-136).
R. Yehoshua Eliyahu son of R. Yosef (d. ca. 1855), writer of this question, and whom the Rebbe's answer was addressed to, was a dayan and posek in Horki, Mogilev. A Chabad rabbi, close disciple of the Tzemach Tzedek, Rebbe of Lubavitch. He served as rabbi of Horki from ca. 1842. In Responsa Tzemach Tzedek, and in Igrot Kodesh of the Tzemach Tzedek, several letters addressed to him are published. One such letter also pertains to his complex medical case. Likewise, in two letters of the Tzemach Tzedek addressed to the Horki community, the Rebbe asks them to provide their rabbi with fine living quarters and a respectable salary, in accordance with his stature (see Igrot Kodesh of the Tzemach Tzedek, pp. 95, 101-106, 203, see also: MiBeit Genazim, Brooklyn 2010, p. 144; Igrot Kodesh of the Mitteler Rebbe, Brooklyn, 2013 edition, p. 273 in the notes).
[1] double leaf. 22-23.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Open tear across the whole top of leaf, with loss to text of question. Wear. Stains and folding marks.
This responsum, including part of the question, was published in Igrot Kodesh of the Tzemach Tzedek, Brooklyn, 2013 edition, pp. 105-107, based on a photocopy of this letter (see notes ibid). The photocopy was printed there on p. 104.