Letter authorizing receipt of a loan under the terms of heter iska, from January 1951, typewritten and signed with the signature of Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer [three signatures] and other signatories.

Authorization of extension of the arrangement and authorization of receipt of profits with two additional signatures by Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer and additional signatories - on the reverse side of the page. The words 'הפוך לטוב' are handwritten in in margin of the page.

[1] leaf of Yeshiva Etz Chaim's official paper 22x20 cm.

Very fine condition.

Giant collection of handwritten documents, ephemera, and important documents in four binders.

* Dozens of leaves of stencils of mussar lectures delivered by the Mashgiach, Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein in the Mir Yeshiva in Shanghai, 1946, with handwritten comments in an unidentified hand. [We have not checked if these lectures were ever printed.] Mussar lectures on various subjects: the plots of the evil inclination, reflections on the unity of the creation, virtue of "bechira," levels of awe of Heaven and other subjects.

* Flyleaves from 1840-1940 with owner notations; printed ketuba with illustrations; rabbinical letters; early receipts from Torah institutions and yeshivot; photos of rabbis and admors [including a picture of the Admor of Gur]; invitations to weddings at chassidic courts; leaves with kabbalistic sketches and illustrations; Torah novellae in an unidentified hand; posters regarding the seamline between religious and irreligious; battle for Shabbat observance and opposing improper advertisements; poster regarding the controversy in the Ponovezh Yeshiva; raffle tickets; donations tickets; handwritten prayers; postcards; Yartzeit leaves from Torah institutions, lithographs; election posters; personal letters between young couples - 1950s; personal letters; stencil print from prominent rabbis with handwritten corrections about "how to be saved on the day of judgment;" early photos of scenery and people in the Land of Israel [Western Wall, neighborhoods in the Old City of Jerusalem, children in educational institutions and many more]; sale of chametz contracts; Yizkor prayer for Holocaust victims; two lithograph illustrations published by Yosef Chassid, and many more.

Additionally contains letters to and from Rabbi Nachum Kook [1932-2010, Rabbi of the Tel Ganim neighborhood in Ramat Gan, father of kabbalist Rabbi Dov Kook of Tiberias]. Some letters in his hand and with his signature. Includes an official letter from the administration of the zoological park in Ramat Gan from 1976 confirming that Rabbi Kook purchased the monkey island in the safari. ["This contract testifies that Rabbi Nachum Kook of Ramat Gan purchased with a complete "kinyan" the island called "monkey island" that is in the zoological park in Ramat Gan, including all the monkeys on it. They all belong to Rabbi Kook, just like the other animals in the zoological park that he already purchased from us] and much more.

The collection has not been thoroughly inspected. Varying sizes and condition. Overall very fine condition.

A notebook of Torah novaelle in the handwriting of a student in the Mir yeshiva who was exiled to Shanghai during the Second World War. The notebook was written while he was in Shanghai with the yeshiva and deals primarily with topics of Aggadah and the weekly Torah portion. Yiddish and some Hebrew. Cramped and legible handwriting.

At the beginning of the notebook is a list of the names of students, including Pinchas Hirschprong, Moshe Mendelbaum, Avraham Eiger, Anshil Weinhaus and others. At the beginning of each chapter the student noted the date and the place 'Shanghai'. The notebook was written between the dates February 18, 1943 and December 20, 1945, and is replete with novaelle on various topics connected to the weekly Torah portion and aggadah: a bride with beautiful eye does not need to be examined, Avraham and Yishmael. Sdom, the ten commandments, the Jewish People being chosen from all other nations, a maidservant on the seashore saw things that Yechezkel ben Buzi did not see, one whose wisdom exceeds his actions, pride and humility, the salvation of Israel, the exalted level of the Land of Israel, novaelle on the portion of Shmot, creation of man, it is better to go to a house of mourning that to a feast, midrash Shir Hashirim, Yaacov's ladder, and more. At the end of the notebook is a "dictionary" leaf - useful terms for the exiles of Shanghai ['waiting room', 'station', 'train' and more] translated from Yiddish to English [in 1946, a group of the Mir students who were exiled to Shanghai traveled to New York, this student could have been one of them].

[32] notebook pages written in cramped and legible handwriting. 20x14 cm. Slight tears on the margins of the cover, stains, fine condition.

Important letter signed by Rabbi Elazar Menachem Man Shach on the 22nd of Shevat, 1988, fortifying the Torah institutions of the Bukharian community "so that Torah should not be forgotten from this glorious community, the Bukharian community."

The letter addresses the Jews of the United States on behalf of the "Shaarei Tzion" and "Ohel Bracha" Bukharain institutions. "They educate about 400 students, so that Torah should not be forgotten among this glorious community, the Bukharian community." The letter was written pursuant to the trip of one of the founders of these organizations to appeal to the Bukharian Jews in the United States with respect to the amount of assistance necessary, Rabbi Shach added warm words: "Please, dear brothers, come forward to take a portion in this great mitzvah of reviving an entire community so that they be strengthened and remember their past, their forefathers who sacrificed themselves for observing Torah and mitzvot ..." His signature appears in the margins.

[1] letterhead. 21x28 cm. With Rabbi Shach's signature and personal stamp.

Very fine condition.