A letter in the handwriting of the Admor, author of ‘Minchat Elazar’ of Munkacs, Rabbi Chaim Elazar Shapira.
Specifications: [1] official paper leaf. 30×23 cm. The Rebbe’s glosses were written between the writer’s lines, and at the end are five lines in his handwriting and with his signature.
Content: The letter was written on September 7, 1922. The top part of the leaf was written by Moshe Goldstein, the Rebbe’s personal secretary, in which he criticizes the way the kollel money is distributed and demands “to receive the receipts as soon as possible”, and adds that “you have astounded us during a time of sorrow and pressure…and the gates of tears are locked”. He also writes that he encloses the printed protocol against the “Agudah”.
The letter was proofread by the Rebbe, who added his glosses in his handwriting between the lines, and even added a number of lines at the end of the letter and signed.
Background: Rabbi Chaim Elazar of Munkacs, (1871-1937), known as the ‘Minchat Elazar’ after the name of his book. One of the most important Rebbes of his generation, one of the great opponents of Zionism and Agudat Yisrael and the leader of the zealot stream. He headed a kollel in Munkacs which supported the poor of Israel and established the Batei Munkacs neighborhood. He was a great genius in both written and hidden Torah, kept in contact through messengers with the head of the Kabbalists Rabbi Shlomo Eliezer Alfandari, known as the “Sabba Kadisha”, and even travelled to Israel to visit him. He was hopeful that this meeting would quicken the redemption, and even made a pre-condition that no other person be present during their meeting.
Condition: Fine, folding marks and tiny tears. The ink of some of the words is smudged, but it is mostly legible.