Letter from the Steipler - "Safeguarding Pure Jewish Education" - Bnei Brak, 1961

Letter from the Steipler - "Safeguarding Pure Jewish Education" - Bnei Brak, 1961
Letter handwritten and signed by R. Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky. Bnei Brak, [Tevet 1961].
Letter addressed to the parents' committee of the Beit Yaakov HaMerkazi girls' school in Bnei Brak, against bringing in teachers from the state religious school system, to examine the students for the purpose of receiving scholarships - "Which would be destructive to the safeguarding of pure Jewish education". The Steipler encourages the board of parents to oppose this initiative: "…and considering that the opposition of the principal alone will surely engender complications, the board of parents should please express their opposition to this arrangement… and G-d willing, the government will agree to run the examinations in conformance with our values…".
R. Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky (1899-1985), an extraordinary Torah leader of the past generation. He was known as the Steipler, appellation derived from his hometown Hornostaipil, Ukraine. A foremost student of the Novardok yeshivot in Ukraine and Poland, he was reputed as one of the most diligent and scholarly students in the yeshiva world. Following his marriage to the sister of the Chazon Ish, he was appointed dean of the Novardok yeshiva in Pinsk, and in 1934, he immigrated to Eretz Israel to serve as dean of the Beit Yosef-Novardok yeshiva in Bnei Brak. For many years, he lived in Bnei Brak in the same house as his brother-in-law, the Chazon Ish. After the yeshiva shut down, he resumed his studies in Kollel Chazon Ish and in his home, and authored the Kehillot Yaakov series on most Talmudic topics and tractates. He was known as a wonder-worker who benefitted from Divine Inspiration, and many sought his blessings and counsel.
[1] leaf, official stationery. 23 cm. Approx. 15 autograph lines. Good condition. Folding marks.