Auction 67 Judaica - Books, Manuscripts, Rabbinical Letters, Ceremonial Art
Sep 18, 2019 (your local time)
Israel
 8 Ramban St, Jerusalem.
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LOT 234:

Letter from Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski to Rabbi Shmuel Salant - From his Early Years as Rabbi of Vilna, 1892

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Letter from Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski to Rabbi Shmuel Salant - From his Early Years as Rabbi of Vilna, 1892
Lengthy letter (2 pages), handwritten and signed by R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski. Vilna, Adar 1892.
Addressed to R. Shmuel Salant in Jerusalem. The letter relates of an interesting yet sorrowful case: A Jew named R. Mordechai of Minsk had passed away in Jerusalem, requesting in his will that ten men should study Torah in his memory, and pray in his home for the first year following his passing. He allocated 300 silver rubles to be distributed between them. Ten men were carefully chosen and began implementing his will (among these were R. Shimon Tzvi Horowitz, R. Yitzchak Eliezer Charlap, R. Avraham Abba Salant, and others). However, most of R. Mordechai's wealth was deposited in Europe, in the care of several men, who subsequently went bankrupt. The funds remaining in his estate did not suffice to fully carry out his will, nor to pay for his burial expenses. R. Chaim Ozer asks R. Shmuel Salant to instruct them apropos the division of the residual sum of money between the Burial Society and those who had studied and prayed for the elevation of R. Mordechai's soul.
R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski (1863-1940) was a foremost rabbi of his generation and leader of the entire European Jewry. He was the son of R. David Shlomo Grodzinski Rabbi of Iwye. He was renowned from his childhood for his exceptional brilliance. He entered the Volozhin yeshiva at the young age of 11, and became a disciple of R. Chaim of Brisk. At the age of 24, he was appointed rabbi and posek of Vilna, in place of his father-in-law R. Eliyahu Eliezer Grodnansky posek in Vilna, son-in-law of R. Yisrael Salanter. He assumed the yoke of public leadership from a young age, and for close to fifty years, his opinion was conclusive on all public matters which arose throughout the Diaspora. This letter discloses that already as a young rabbi (under the age of 30), R. Chaim Ozer, with his authority and broad viewpoint, governed communal affairs.
[1] leaf (written on both sides, approx. 32 lines). 20 cm. Good condition. Stains.

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