Letter Loaded with Blessings from the Admo"r Rabbi Yechezkel of Ostrovtza, 1907

Letter Loaded with Blessings from the Admo"r Rabbi Yechezkel of Ostrovtza, 1907

Letter [16 lines], entirely handwritten and signed by the Admo"r Rabbi Yechezkel of Ostrovtza, in which he tells one of his Chassidim in the Land of Israel about the birth of his son. Ostrovtza, 1907.

The letter is written in his father's lifetime, to one of his Chassidim, calling him, "Beloved to my soul and to my heart, the great rabbi in Torah and fear of Heav-n ... most honorable, lofty ... Yitzchak Gavriel ..." The Rebbe, as mentioned, relates the birth of his son, and requests that they be mentioned at the holy sites. The Rebbe pleads in his letter for great blessings: "Much peace and blessing, and all goodness, selah ... May Hash-m grant that we merit to hear glad tidings, all of us, our friends, and the entire Jewish people, and may we all be privileged to ascend to Tziyon in joy." At the end of his letter, he signs: Yechezkel HaLevi "יחזקאל הלוי בלאאמו"ר שליט"א."

The Admo"r Rabbi Yechezkel HaLevi of Ostrovtza [1887-1943] was the second Admo"r of Ostrovtza, son of Rabbi Yechiel Meir, who, as is known, fasted 40 successive years to prevent the Holocaust (tzaddikim of the generation compared him to the tanna Rabbi Tzaddok who fasted 40 successive years to prevent the destruction of the Temple, in Tractate Gittin.) Rabbi Yechezkel was perfect in the revealed and hidden [aspects of Torah], thousands of his Chassidim and admirers flocked to his home. He was one of the most prominent Admo"rs in Poland. As is known, the Nazis, may their names be obliterated, especially sought out rabbinic leaders: In 1943, the Gestapo demanded that Rabbi Yechezkel be turned in, or else 200 of the town's Jews would be burned. In response, the Rebbe said, "Better that I be the community's sacrifice than the reverse." He immersed in a mikveh and recited selichot and vidui at dawn. On the tenth of Tevet, at nine o'clock in the morning, the Nazis came and shot him to death. Most of his writings were lost in the Holocaust; the few that survived were published under the name Kodshei Yechezkel.

[1] postal postcard, stamped and postmarked. 14x9 cm. Entirely in the Rebbe's hand and with his signature. Very fine condition. Minimal aging stains.