Authentic Chassidic letter from the renowned Chassid Rabbi Yisrael David Gutterman, one of the most prominent Chassidim in Poland – the Chassidic center, and one of the closest associates of the first Admo”r of Porisov, son of the Yehudi HaKadosh of Peshischa. Garwolin, 1883.
This letter contains rare and important historic-Chassidic material that gives a taste of the lofty Divine service of Chassidim from a century and a half ago, along with important chapters in Chassidic conduct that appear in these letters. This is aside from the historiographic details regarding the Chassidic leaders of his generation, with whom the writer was in close contact as well as being related.
Background to writing this letter: The gaon and Chassid Rabbi Yehoshua Elazar Gutterman, son of the writer of these letters, ascended from Poland to the Land of Israel in his youth. In the Land, he married a daughter of the gaon and Chassid Rabbi Avraham Eliezer Mintzberg, av beit din of Józefów, (son-in-law of Rabbi Yitzchak David of Lelov, grandson of the Yehudi HaKadosh). Trips from Poland to the Land of Israel in the 19th century were uncommon, and ascending to the Land often meant parting from one’s family and never seeing them again. In these letters, the gaon and Chassid Rabbi Yisrael David, who was a flaming Chassid with all his heart and soul, as is clear from each and every line in these special letters, shares a father’s guidance for his son – authentic Chassidic guidance in which he instructs his son how to conduct himself in the Chassidic way, the way of their forefathers. Rabbi Yisrael David considers the words he writes about Chassidut and Divine service in these letters as carrying great weight, and instructs his son to review them once in a while. Indeed, it is clear from the letters that they were read and studied.
The first two leaves are a letter from the father, Rabbi Yisrael David, signed twice. At the end of the second page is an addition handwritten by Rabbi Eliezer Gutterman, the addressee’s nephew (grandson of Rabbi Yisrael David). Rabbi Eliezer Gutterman is mentioned in the list of subscribers to
Sefer Atarah L’Rosh Tzaddik by the Rebbe of Porisov (Warsaw, 1895) as one of the residents of Garwolin.
The third page is a letter in Yiddish from the mother, Sarah, mentioning several other women in the family. An additional passage appears at the bottom of the page from Rabbi Yisrael David.
The fourth page is a letter from two of the addressee’s nephews (grandsons of Rabbi Yisrael David), writing about the sequential study sessions imposed upon them by their grandfather. Signed by his nephew R’ Yosef Shalom and an unidentified nephew (the signature is somewhat incomplete).
In this letter, the father calls on his son not to engage in lofty activities that do not suit his spiritual level, but to do them in order. Despite their being an advantage to getting rid of the shells [קליפות] in order to consume the fruit, things must still be done with humility and understanding … “Your pure letter from Monday of Vayikra, I received this past erev Shabbat , before travelling to Porisov, and I took the letter to the mechutan R’ Moshe Reisels, and your letter was read. He gave the letter to me after reading it, so that I would give it to his son-in-law R’ Moshe Reisels, and I did so. Regarding your letter, he responded: The important thing is that time not be lost, and Hashem will certainly help you, and you will see that the chazakah will not part (emphasis in the original) …” and later on, “… I already wrote you how important it is to prostrate oneself on grave sites (the grave sites of the tzaddikim in Chevron), because spirits must cleave together, and you are not yet ready for this, because you are still young …” “Because the entire world falls under imagination that connects the intellectual soul to the animal soul …”
Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for brief biographies of
the gaon and Chassid Rabbi Yisrael David Gutterman ,
his son the gaon and Chassid Rabbi Yehoshua Elazar Gutterman and
his mechutan Rabbi Eliezer Mintzberg .
[4] written leaves, approximately 21×17 cm each.
Moderate-fine condition. Aging stains. Fold marks. Tears.