Postcard-letter handwritten and signed by the gaon Rabbi Pesach HaKohen Pinfer, a dayan in Vilna, sent to the researcher R’ Yehudah Leib Blau, one of the heads of Beit HaMidrash L’Rabbanim in Budapest. [Vilna, 1907]. Letters from him are extremely rare. To the best of our knowledge, they have never been offered at auction.
In the letter, Rabbi Pesach complains that the addressee wrote a criticism on his sefer , Masoret HaTorah V’HaNevi’im (Vilna, 1906), and did not send it to him, the author. Rabbi Pesach notes that he requested that the printer, Frieman, send him the criticism, and he has not responded for two months. Those same two months, “I was lying on my deathbed” in his words, and only now, after recovering, is he again requesting that he be sent the researcher’s criticism.
Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of Rabbi Pesach HaKohen Pinfer .
The letter was printed for the first time in the Torah MiTziyon anthology under the title “Katava L’Mikra U’Parsha L’Hoda” (Jerusalem, 1898) and another time, in Rabbi Pesach’s sefer , Masoret HaTorah V’HaNevi’im (Vilna, 1906) and as a a single leaf (Jerusalem, 1934; attached to this letter).
[1] postal postcard, 14×9 cm.
Fine condition. Stains and light creases.
Included:
Printed leaf – ‘Katva L’Mikra U’Parsha L’Hoda – Iggeret HaKodesh, ‘ the code revealed by Rabbi Pesach.
Printed a third time by R’ Ozer Yehoshua Indorski. Jerusalem, c. 1930s.
[1] leaf paper, printed on one side. Approximately 28×22 cm.
Moderate condition. Worming perforations. Fold marks and creases. Stains.