Bidspirit auction | ”Banei, Chayei, u'Mezonei Revichei” –

”Banei, Chayei, u'Mezonei Revichei” – Extraordinary Blessings in the Autograph Hand of Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld ZY”A Autograph letter, filled with heartfelt words of compassion and appeal, written entirely in the ksav yad and bearing the autograph signature of Mara d'Ara d'Yisroel, Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld . The letter was written on behalf of Reb Meir Eichler, who had left the Diaspora and settled in Yerushalayim with the aspiration of ”devoting his time to Torah and avodah.” Stricken with a serious illness, he was forced to travel abroad to the renowned therapeutic spas in search of a cure. Burdened with the responsibility of supporting his young children, he lacked the means to provide for his family's basic needs. Moved by his boundless compassion for every fellow Jew, Rabbi Yosef Chaim vividly describes the man's difficult circumstances and suffering, appealing to his brethren to stand at his side and sustain him until he regains his strength. Particularly noteworthy are the concluding lines of this letter, in which Rabbi Yosef Chaim pours forth his holy brachos from the depths of his pure heart: ”...May it be the will of our Father in Heaven... that all those who assist and support them be blessed with banei, chayei, u'mezonei revichei, and merit to rejoice in abundant simchos and witness the salvation of Klal Yisroel.” Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld .(1848–1932), revered as the Mara d'Ara d'Yisroel, was one of the foremost builders of Torah in Eretz Yisroel. Born in Verbo , Slovakia, he studied in his youth under the Kesav Sofer , from whom he received semichah, and later became a close talmid of Rabbi Avraham Schag, one of the leading rabbanim of Hungary. In 1873 he accompanied his rebbe to Eretz Yisroel and settled in Yerushalayim, where he became one of the closest talmidim of the Maharil Diskin. Throughout his life he stood at the forefront of the struggle to preserve the sanctity and independence of the Torah community in Yerushalayim, opposing Zionist control over the holy city and the establishment of the Chief Rabbinate. In 1920 he was appointed Av Beis Din of Yerushalayim. Among his published works are Shu”t Toras Chaim and Shu”t Shalmas Chaim.