Letter (19 lines) handwritten by the gaon Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Rabinowitz Av Beit Din of Ponovezh (Rebbe Itzeleh Ponovezher) to Rabbi Chanoch Henich.
Halachic responsum on the topic of terumah payments; whether “kim leih d’rabbah mineih” [only the most severe aspect situation is considered] can be said regarding them. The gaon discusses the words of the Tosafot in Ketubot on the matter.
The gaon Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Rabinowitz [R’ Itzeleh Ponovezher] (1854-1919) was among the author of Beit HaLevi ‘s disciples. He was Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik’s son’s study partner for about two years. In 1889, he was called upon by the “Alter of Slobodka” to serve as the head of the yeshivah in Slobdka. In 1894 he left Slabodka following disagreements about the approach to the mussar movement (Reb Itzeleh was a sharp opponent) and he moved on to serve in the rabbinate in Gruzd, and then in Ponovezh. In every location our rabbi taught Torah to the masses and paved a new way in Torah study. He was known as an overflowing wellspring, and his reasoning and delineations are famous in the world of yeshivahs to this day. He passed away during a typhus plague after being very involved in visiting the ill of his city who had become sick with typhus. Remnants of his Torah novellae were printed in Zecher Yitzchak .
[1] leaf paper 21×26 cm. (Written on one side). Stains, fine condition.