Bidspirit auction | “...The Great Value of the

“...The Great Value of the Yeshivos and Their Talmidim, Given Over Heart and Soul to Torah…” R' Aharon Kotler — Kletsk, 1931–5691 A powerful rescue letter from Rav Aharon Kotler, written in Kletsk, 1931, to R' Yoseph Carlebach, Av Beis Din of Altona. The background is painfully familiar: the streams of support from America had weakened, and the yeshivah — Yeshivas Etz Chaim of Kletsk — was under real financial strain. Rav Aharon turns personally to R’ Carlebach to intercede with the generous supporters of Hamburg on behalf of the yeshivah. And in one unforgettable line, he writes: “My hope is strong that the Rav, who knows well how to appreciate and value the great worth of the yeshivos and their talmidim, who are given over with all their heart and soul to Torah…” You hear it in the words. This is not fundraising language. This is Rav Aharon speaking from the core of what a yeshivah is. The Writer — Before Lakewood This letter predates America. Predates Lakewood. Here is Rav Aharon in Europe, carrying Kletsk on his shoulders. Rav Aharon Kotler (1891–1962), talmid of Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer and one of the greatest products of the Slabodka derech, stood at the helm of Kletsk, one of the elite yeshivos of pre-war Europe. Only later would he transplant the world of Lithuanian Torah to America and found Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood. But here you see the same Rav Aharon — the same fire — decades earlier. A Line That Defines a Yeshivah “המסורים בכל לבם ונפשם לתוה״ק” Given over with all their heart and soul to Torah. That is Rav Aharon’s definition of a yeshivah.