Extremely important halachic letter from the gaon, the tzaddik, Rabbi Simchah Zelig Riger, the famous dayan of Brisk (teacher of Rabbi Aryeh Leib Steinman), to the chief rabbinate of Jerusalem. Brisk, 1927.
The letter before us deals with one of the most problematic halachic processes – divorce in the husband’s absence. Much can be learned from this letter about carrying out this complex type of process. Due to the letter’s importance, in the place marked for the sender’s name and address, the name and address of Rabbi Yitzchak Ze’ev HaLevi Soloveitchik, rabbi of Brisk, appear in Polish.
Rabbi Simchah Zelig Riger [1864-1943] was one of the leading students at the Volozhin yeshivah. Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin brought him in especially to serve as an adjudicator and dayan at the Brisk beit din. Rabbi Chaim once said of him: “On the subject of instruction, Rabbi Simchah Zelig is unique in his generation!” It is known that the Brisker Rav almost never cites Later Authorities in his books; however, he quotes the words of Rabbi Simchah Zelig three times, calling him, ‘My friend the Rash”z.’ Even after R’ Chaim of Brisk’s passing and the appointment of his son Rabbi Yitzchak as successor to the city’s rabbinate, Rabbi Simchah Zelig continued in his position and worked together with the rabbi, who admired him to the extreme. The postcard before us, too, proves that the dayan wrote the rabbi’s address for receipt of the responsum to the clear halachic issue in his care. Rabbi Simchah Zelig Riger was murdered in the Holocaust together with the rest of the Brisk community in Cheshvan 1942. His known disciples include Rabbi Aharon Leib Steinman; Rabbi Simchah was the one who granted him rabbinic ordination.
[1] post office postcard, postmarked and stamped. 10×15 cm. Entirely handwritten and signed by Rabbi Simchah Zelig Riger. Very fine condition. Filing perforation with damage to a solitary word.