Moving letter from the leader of the Jewish people who enlightens the eyes of the nation with his works Mishnah Berurah and Chafetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisrael Meir HaCohen of Radin to Rabbi Yonah Merzbach. Radin, 1932.
Specifications: [1] official paper leaf. 27×20 cm. The Chafetz Chaim’s official letterhead in Hebrew and Polish. The letter is typewritten with the Chafetz Chaim’s handwritten signature and his stamp.
Background: The letter was sent to Rabbi Yonah Merzbach of Darmstadt, Germany. In the letter the Chafetz Chaim mentions that he promised the yeshiva’s emissary that he would try to collect up to one hundred marks for the yeshiva in Radin. The yeshiva’s condition is “so very terrible that it is indescribable, for the past many months three hundred and fifty students who are great in Torah study and fear of Heaven have not received their basic provisions, and they are suffering from hunger and poverty, and the yeshiva’s very existence is in danger.”
As a result, the Chafetz Chaim hurries Rabbi Yonah Merzbach, writing that he is sure that he will keep his word and help the yeshiva. Rabbi Yonah Merzbach served as rabbi of Darmstadt, Germany. Inflation was extremely high in Germany at the time, and it is possible that the country’s financial situation made it difficult to collect money. The sum of ‘up to one hundred marks’ is mentioned in the letter – the German exchange rate was extremely low. We do know that Rabbi Merzbach did indeed assist the Chafetz Chaim’s yeshiva in Radin.
In this period of his life, the Chafetz Chaim no longer wrote his own letters, the letter was written by typewriter approximately a year before his passing at the age of 94.
Condition: Fine-very fine. Fold marks and slight aging stains.