Three important letters from Rabbi Avraham Stern author of “Melitzei Esh”.
* A halachic responsum in his handwriting and with his signature regarding ritual hand washing for the meal in the bathroom adjacent to the dining room when one needs to wash his hands after leaving the bathroom, whether one can wash their hands for a meal there [a long discussion from the Talmud and the poskim]. The end of the letter deals with personal matters.
* A halachic responsum in his handwriting with his signature. Dated: Eve of Wednesday of Nitzavim-Vayelech 1931. Regarding one who gave instructions in his will for a building to be used for Torah study, is it permitted to use certain places to host guests, and is is permitted to deviate from the deceased’s opinion on this. At the end of the letter he writes sharp things against the book “Katuv Yosher” “That I do not want to hold this book in my house, and I want to fulfill the commandment of ‘and you shall burn the evil from within you’… and ‘know what to reply to an apostate’ does not apply – this refers to a non-Jewish apostate, but a Jewish apostate will ignore anything you reply to him…”
* A halachic responsum on the laws of Peah, at the end of the letter are matters regarding “Zecher Tzadik L’Bracha”, how this should be fulfilled, whether by simply by mentioning the name of the righteous man or in other ways, and other matters.
Rabbi Avraham Stern [1884 – murdered in the Holocaust in 1944], author of “Melitzei Esh”, “Gapei Esh”, “Kitvei Esh”, “Mesader Chilukim V’Shitot” and other books. A disciple of the Maharam Schick, and a disciple of the author of the “Shevet Sofer” and author of “Arugot HaBosem”. The son-in-law and right hand man of Rabbi Yosef Meir Tigerman [1852-1944], Av Beit Din of Nové Zámky (Neuhäusel, Érsekújvár). Murdered in the gas chambers of Auschwitz in June 1944, together with his elderly father-in-law, who was nearly 93 years old, and the members of his family and the members of the community of Neuhäusel. [Refer to Responsa Be’er Moshe, part 7, siman 109, a miraculous story which occurred when he served as Rabbi after his sermon on the severity of talking about mundane matters during prayer].
His three sons are the renowned Rabbis: Rabbi Bezalel Stern [1911-1989], author of “Betzel HaChochma” Av Beit Din of Vienna and Melbourne; Rabbi Mordechai Stern [1899-1935], author of “Rav Chessed”; and Rabbi Moshe Stern [1914-1997], Rabbi of Debrecen – America author of “Be’er Moshe”.
3 letters. A total of 10 pages in his handwriting.