Halachic Responsum by Rabbi Avraham Yechezkel Arlozorov, Av Beit Din of Kharkiv

Long letter handwritten and signed by Rabbi "Avraham Yechezkel son of R' S. Arlozorov". Kharkiv, Kislev 1894. Sent to Rabbi Zvi Hirsh HaCohen Volk, Av Beit Din of Pinsk. Good wishes upon his appointment as Av Beit Din of Pinsk [succeeding his father Rabbi Elazar Moshe Horwitz]. Following the signature is a long halachic responsum regarding the laws of wine produced from raisins of unripe grapes and the laws of tithes of unripe fruit. This question was sent to Rabbi Hirsh by Rabbi Moshe Nachum Yerushalimsky, Av Beit Din of Kamenka who wrote: "I request that you answer me promptly because I will not respond to… until I receive your answer and whatever you will write, I will write him in your name". [In the book Be'er Moshe by Rabbi Moshe Nachum Yerushalimsky at the end of the kuntress Birkat Chachamim (p. 140), is the response of Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan on the matter of the letter offered here. Afterward, he mentions that he received more responses on this issue from his friend Rabbi Avraham Yechezkel Arlozorov, Av Beit Din of Kharkiv and from Rabbi Yosef Zecharya Stern, Av Beit Din of Šiauliai (Shavl) and he concludes with: "…Anyway, we have great Torah authorities upon whom we can rely"]. Rabbi Avraham Yechezkel Arlozorov (died 1900), a leading rabbi in Russia at the time and a prominent Chabad Chassid, was very close to the Chabad and Kopys rebbes. He served in the Kharkiv rabbinate from the middle of the 1870s and had halachic correspondence with rabbis of his times: Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan, Rabbi David of Karlin, etc. He had a special relationship with Rabbi Moshe Nachum Yerushalimsky and wrote several responsa in the name of Rabbi Arlozolov in his books. From 1884-1888 a heated dispute enveloped the city, concerning matters pertaining to shechita and the rabbinate. Mr. David Kabak owned a large sausage factory in the city of Kharkiv and Rabbi Arlozorov invalidated one of his shochtim. As a result, Kabak established a separate community and appointed a different rabbi. Leading rabbis (the Netziv of Volozhin, Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor, Vilna rabbis such as Rabbi Shmuel Liovcher, Rabbi Ya'akov Yosef and Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinsky, Rabbi Eliyahu Meizel and more) wrote letters and articles in the newspapers protesting the attempt to thwart the authority of Rabbi Arlozorov and encroaching on his rights. These letters reveal the great reverence these rabbis had for the Torah knowledge of Rabbi Arlozorov. (For a lengthy description of this affair, see the article by R' Y. Mondstein: The Polemic of the Rabbis and Shochtim in Kharkiv, Zechor L'Avraham, 1999, pp. 374-444). Rabbi Arlozorov left behind many manuscripts, responsa and writings concerning public matters. After his death, his books, covering numerous areas of Torah and wisdom were given to the Gur-Ari family in Kremenchuk. His Torah novellae were not printed with the exception of a few responsa which were printed in the books written by rabbis of his times and in various anthologies. Official stationery, 4 pages, 21.5 cm. Approximately 70 lines written in attractive close handwriting. Good condition, creases and wear.