Letter from Rabbi Shmuel Salant to Rabbi Shimon Menashe [Chaikin] after he visited Hebron and saw a functioning Talmud Torah there. He wrote something of a recommendation, and countered those who deny the existence of the Talmud Torah in the city. Jerusalem, 1899.
Specifications: [1] leaf, 19×14 cm, with his handwritten signature and stamp.
Background: A Talmud Torah was established in Hebron with the efforts of Rabbi Shimon Menashe Chaikin, Av Beit Din of Hebron, one of the great disciples of the “Mittler Rebbe” of Lubavitch. Tales from the era tell of financial friction between this Talmud Torah and Torah institutions in Jerusalem, regarding monies sent from the diaspora. In the letter before us, Rabbi Shmuel Salant wrote to Rabbi Shimon Menashe Chaikin that he had just been in Hebron, and per his request, he had visited the Talmud Torah and he saw four teachers learning with students in four rooms. He blesses them with success in their studies, and continues at length against those who deny this clear reality and spread rumors as if there is no Talmud Torah in Hebron “in their desire to make light darkness and darkness light,” and he expresses his support for those who work faithfully.
Regarding this episode, refer to Shloshah Olamot by Rabbi Chaim Hamburg, second part, Chapter 15.
Fine condition. Stains and fold marks.