Letter from the Chazon Ish – "To Arrange for Shabbat Conformance in the Water Plant" in Bnei Brak – Iyar 1939

Letter (approx. 7 lines) handwritten and signed by R. Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz – the Chazon Ish. Bnei Brak, Iyar 1939.
In this letter addressed to R. Yitzchak Gerstenkorn, founder and mayor of Bnei Brak, the Chazon Ish urges to enlarge the municipal water pool by heightening the pool, to avoid the necessity of using pumps on Shabbat, which operate on electricity generated through Shabbat desecration.
"I wish to draw his honor's attention to arrange for Shabbat conformance in the water plant, as we have already discussed many times… and I am convinced that with his great dynamism and understanding, he will be successful in orchestrating this, and it will serve as an ongoing merit for him, and fortunate is the one who has a share in this good deed, which involves Torah observance and public benefit, and I hereby wish him success in this endeavor… One who seeks his wellbeing, Ish".
One of the prominent battles the Chazon Ish led was his extensive activism against the Shabbat desecration perpetrated by the Israel Electric Corporation. Reputedly, the Chazon Ish once pointed out the blatant irony involved in the electric sign posted on the dome of the Great Synagogue on Allenby St. in Tel Aviv, proclaiming "Remember the Shabbat day to sanctify it", which was powered by the Shabbat desecration of Jews working in the IEC on Shabbat (see: Pe'er HaDor, part II, pp. 90-92). Until this day, many G-d fearing Orthodox Jews follow the directives of the Chazon Ish and refrain from using electricity produced by the IEC on Shabbat. Many avail themselves of batteries, and all Orthodox neighborhoods in Eretz Israel are equipped with private electric networks providing electricity produced by local generators.
Pe'er HaDor, biography of the Chazon Ish (part II, pp. 86-92) relates, that one of the Chazon Ish's enterprises was to encourage and urge the mayor R. Yitzchak (Itche) Gerstenkorn to set up large water tanks, which could store sufficient water for a three day supply, so that even in years when Shabbat would follow two days of Rosh Hashana, water could be provided to the residents of Bnei Brak without requiring to operate the electric pump. In 1939, R. Yitzchak set up such a pool, incurring colossal debts. Pe'er HaDor quotes one of the rabbis of Bnei Brak who eulogized R. Y. Gerstenkorn and related that several years prior, he met R. Gerstenkorn who told him: "If I depart from this world before you, I request that if you eulogize me, mention the merit I had – the merit of establishing the large pool in Bnei Brak" (Pe'er HaDor, part II, p. 88, footnote 38; based on the Diglenu newspaper, issue 154, Cheshvan 1962).
R. Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz (1879-1953), author of the Chazon Ish, a foremost scholar in Halacha and Jewish philosophy in our times. A preeminent Torah scholar and hidden righteous man, his first book Chazon Ish was published in 1911 anonymously, and he thereafter became known under that title. In his great modesty, he would sign using his acronym only: "Ish". He authored and published numerous volumes of Chazon Ish, which were written with great toil and in-depth study, covering nearly all Talmudic topics. In 1933, he immigrated to Eretz Israel, where he soon became recognized as the leading Torah authority, and stood at the helm of the resurrection of the Torah world in our generation. He encouraged and bolstered adherence to Halachah, and fought staunchly for the observance of Shabbat and Shemittah, serving as the prime halachic authority on any Torah matters which arose.
[1] leaf. 26 cm. Good condition. Folding marks.