Beautiful letter of greetings handwritten by the renowned gaon Rabbi Matityahu Strashun – one of the only gedolei Yisrael throughout all the generations whose annotations are printed to this day in all editions of the Talmud. Sent to Baron Günzburg – of the Russian-Jewish aristocratic family. Reichenhall, 1883.
The writer of this letter, the gaon Rabbi Matityahu Strashun, was one of the most prominent rabbis in Lithuania and one of the leading rabbis in Vilna. His Torah works, and especially his annotations on Sha”s, are enjoyed by the Jewish people. He was a son of the renowned commentator, the Rasha”sh of Vilna. In contrast, the addressee, Baron David Günzburg, was a secular Jew from the wealthy Russian aristocracy, a son of well-known bankers and gold miners. However, it appears from this letter that the two shared a close friendship. Rabbi Matityahu Strashun of Vilna uses various expressions of strong friendship throughout this letter, for the addressee and his father, Baron Horace Günzburg, and his opens the letter with the words: ” L’yedid libi bechir ratztah nafshi, l’david maskil v’shalem .”
The reason for this – and this is actually the topic of the letter – is the shared hobby of the two prominent personalities – collection of rare books and manuscripts. Both the gaon Rabbi Matityahu Strashun of Vilna and Baron Günzburg were leading bibliophiles of their generation. Their personal libraries held rare manuscripts and incunabula and were famed around the world.
Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for brief biographies of the gaon Rabbi Matityahu Strashun and the addressee, Baron David Günzburg, son of the Rasha”sh of Vilna .
[1] double leaf paper. 13×21 cm. Bluish paper.
Very fine condition. Fold marks.