Rabbi Petashnik descended from distinguished lineage. His father, Rabbi Nachum Yehoshua, may his blood be avenged, was a son of Rabbi Avraham Shmuel, the Admo”r of Brezan, who was the Admo”r of Belz’s, Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach’s father-in-law in his second marriage.
R’ Nachum Yehoshua was a son-in-law of Rabbi Alter Mordechai Sephard, the Admo”r of Ostroh Chassidut. Already in his youth, R’ Nachum Yehoshua was granted a certificate of ordination by rabbinic leaders. In 1912, he was given the rabbinate of Dubrovitza (Vohlin). In 1921, after this region was transferred to Polish rule, he was crowned chief rabbi of the Sarny district. He was deeply devoted to the country’s Jews and its Judaism. He was killed by the Nazis, may their names be obliterated, in Elul of 1942.
R’ Aharon was a son-in-law of Rabbi Shalom Zuckerman, the Admo”r of Rashkov. In his youth, R’ Aharon was active in youth groups strengthening Jewish heritage and ascending to the Land of Israel. Later on, he joined the Mizrachi movement, where he became one of the biggest movers and shakers preparing youth for aliyah. He, his wife, and his young children miraculously evaded Nazi soldiers and fled to the United States. He resided there in The Bronx where he served as a rabbi in the Rashkov Chassidic synagogue.
Content of the letter:
This letter, written in Tishrei 1943, is addressed to his friend Rabbi Chaim Bloch, who also escaped the Nazi claws and settled in The Bronx. At the beginning of the letter, he laments the lion’s share of the Jewish people currently being killed in the War, and that it is unfortunate that they did not wake up and immigrate to the Land of Israel before the outbreak of war. He decries that many people have crowned their city abroad as ‘Jerusalem’!
Later on, he delicately castigates him for his previous letter, in which Rabbi Bloch harshly criticized the Zionist enterprise that is taking over the Land. Here Rabbi Petashnik exclaims that this is not a question of politics and domination, but of life and death! And according to [your] opinion, is Jewish life in America better, where huge swaths of the Jewish people are assimilating?
He continues, writing about the sharp opposition in the Belz Chassidic court to immigration to the Land of Israel: About twenty years previously, a family member ascended to the Land, and he was warned to return home, so that the Belz lineage not be damaged [apparently this refers to R’ Yitzchak David Rokeach, son of Rabbi Yehoshua of Yaroslav, son of Rabbi Yissachar Dov of Belz].
And now the Admo”r R’ Aharon is begging him to rescue him! And that he can take refuge in the Land of Israel.
He also relates the case of Rabbi Aharon Levine, av beit din of Reisha, who also begs him to see to entry permits to the Land. He concludes his letter by saying that while the Jewish people’s blood is being spilled like water, there is no place for opposing the idea of ascending to the Land of Israel.
[1] leaf official stationery. Written on both sides.
Very fine condition.
