Two Letters from Rabbi Chaim Berlin - To Rabbi Shmuel Salant - Vilna 1890 and Yelizavetgrad 1899

Two Letters from Rabbi Chaim Berlin - To Rabbi Shmuel Salant - Vilna 1890 and Yelizavetgrad 1899
Two lengthy and interesting letters handwritten and signed by R. Chaim Berlin, addressed to R. Shmuel Salant, regarding fundraising for the Etz Chaim yeshiva in Jerusalem. Vilna (Vilnius), 1890; Yelizavetgrad (Kropyvnytskyi), [1899].
The letters contain detailed reports of the fundraising on behalf of the Etz Chaim yeshiva in Jerusalem, and various details concerning the administration of the fundraising. In the second letter, dated 1899, R. Chaim outlines his plans to involve rabbis and wealthy men, who would share with him the burden of organizing the fundraising in Lithuania and Poland: "You surely know that I have been searching for a long time for notables to join me in the management of this fundraising, to replace the late R. Yehonatan of Volkovisk, and unfortunately, I have not yet found such a person, and I am here alone, I am not able to establish such a committee properly". In that letter, R. Chaim describes his loneliness in his position as rabbi of a city in the inner regions of Russia: "For I am like a juniper in the desert, here in the southern land, which is dry of any trace of Torah and holy matters, and I am here completely alone, without anyone to strengthen me, and I pray to G-d… that He draw me up from the pit… from this thick mire, which I entered upon the advice of some of the great rabbis of the generation, who lured me, and I was swayed…".
The first letter is dated: "Tuesday, the day bread rained down from Heaven, 1890. Vilna" (16th Iyar, the day the manna began falling following the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. See Tractate Shabbat f. 87b). The second letter is dated: "The fast of the 10th month, may it become a joyous occasion, 1899, Yelizavetgrad" (10th Tevet).
R. Chaim Berlin (1832-1912), 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, and as rabbi of Kobryn and Yelisavetgrad (Kropyvnytskyi). He immigrated to Jerusalem in 1906, where he soon became recognized as a leading rabbinic authority in the city.
Two letters: A double leaf and a single leaf (4 written pages). 20.5 cm. Good condition.