Beautiful and interesting halachic responsum about bathing in the sea on Shabbat, entirely handwritten and signed by the av beit din of the Hague, the gaon and tzaddik Rabbi Yissachar Ber Berenstein, one of the leading rabbis of Ashkenaz. The responsum was sent to the parnass l’doro , the gaon Rabbi Eliezer Lipman Printz of Amsterdam [one of the select few who had the privilege of having his novellae printed in volumes of the Talmud]. The Hague, 1868 [chronogram “העדה כלם קדשים לפ”ק”].
Background: On 26 Sivan 1868, Rabbi Eliezer Lipman Printz turned to Rabbi Yissachar Berenstein with a practical question on hilchot Shabbat . The problem apparently arose after a doctor recommended he take his son Elisha Eli and his wife to the sea on a daily basis and even on Shabbat, for their recovery. The distance of the sea from the city raised Rabbi Printz’s concern, in addition to the issue of swimming itself.
In this letter, written with tremendous respect and beautifully worded, as befit the status of the addressee, who was a gadol baTorah himself. Despite not serving in a rabbinic position, he was considered one of the leaders of the community in Holland. The av beit din of The Hague resolves all his doubts, the first last and the last first (!). In the margins of the letter, the av beit din of The Hague blesses the “supporter of his generation” with prolific blessings “May the blessings of Shabbat hover over your planted fields, and may your seed flourish in abundance. These are the prayers of he who seeks your well-being, the small one, Yissachar Berish Berenstein, The Hague and environs.”
Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for brief biographies of the sender, the gaon and tzaddik Rabbi Yissachar Ber Berenstein, av beit din of The Hague and the addressee, Rabbi Eliezer Lipman Philip Printz .
[1] double leaf paper, 13×20 cm.
Fine condition. Aging stains. Sticker for reinforcement in the margins, far from the text.