Bidspirit auction | Two Letters of Rabbi Moshe

Two Letters of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein – On Establishing High Schools with Secular Studies by Zev Wolfson in Eretz Israel – ”…As We Know, You and Other Torah Leaders Are Uncomfortable with Establishing High Schools with Secular Studies and Professional Studies… See to Influence them to Stop Working on Other Matters, For Although They Think it is Good, They Must Defer to the Opinion of the Sages…” - Two letters on aerograms (express mail), handwritten by R. Moshe Feinstein, addressed to R. Yechezkel Abramsky, a leader of Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah and the Independent Educational System in Eretz Israel. New York, 7th Iyar [April 19] 1964. In the first letter [sent in morning hours – see below], R. Moshe Feinstein writes of the activities of ”Mr. R. Zev Wolfovsky” [the famous philanthropist Zev Wolfson], who ”was… in Washington, and by his efforts a large amount was raised, and when he traveled there, his opinion was, as we know, working for the Independent Educational System. In the end they made a charter for high schools here. And as we know, you and other Torah leaders are uncomfortable with establishing high schools with secular studies and professional studies, and this is not the point of the Independent Educational System… Therefore, when Mr. Wolfovsky and R. Amos Bunim travel from here, see to influence them to stop working on other matters, for although they think it is a good thing, they must defer to the opinion of the sages, and the funds gathered in Washington should be given to the Independent Educational System”. At the end of the letter, he signs with blessings: ”Your friend, blessing you doubly for healthy, fresh years of life until the coming of the redeemer, Moshe Feinstein”. In the second letter, written on the evening of the same day [postmarked April 20], R. Moshe Feinstein writes: ”This morning I wrote you a letter regarding the affairs of Mr. R. Zev Wolfovsky [Wolfson], who make a charter for high schools in Eretz Israel, which, as we know, you and other Torah scholars are uncomfortable with. But I later spoke with Mr. Wolfovsky and he said that he did this with your permission, that you agreed to establish high schools for Sephardic children who are getting lost, who will not go to yeshiva and are going to the schools of the heretics… Therefore, I don't know what to say about this, and they promised me to meet with you, and after explaining the entire affair they will do as you tell them… Therefore I saw fit to inform you of what they said”. R. Moshe asks R. Abramsky ”to let us know immediately your decision about this so that we know whether to accept or reject, and we will do as you tell us”. R. Moshe Feinstein (1895-1986), foremost halachic authority in the United States. A leader of Orthodox Jewry, he served as president of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada, and chairman of the Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah. He was the dean of the Tiferet Yerushalayim yeshiva in New York. He authored Responsa Igrot Moshe, Dibrot Moshe on the Talmud and Darash Moshe on the Torah. R. Moshe Feinstein had served as Rabbi of Lyuban, Belarus in 1921-1936 under the Bolsheviks, and it was during this period that he met and began to correspond with R. Abramsky (1886-1976), who served as Rabbi of Slutsk from 1923-1930 and led Russian rabbis until his arrest and exile to Siberia. The content of the present letters is highly noteworthy. R. Moshe famously supported leaving secular studies in the curriculum of American high schools. Despite this, the two present letters show that he tended to support the Torah leaders of Eretz Israel (where conditions were more favorable) to prefer educating the young in yeshivas exclusively dedicated to Torah study, with no secular studies. The present letters likewise demonstrate R. Moshe Feinstein's appreciation for ”Mr. R. Zev” Wolfovsky (Wolfson), who strengthened Torah institutions and religious observance. The subject of the letter, Zev Wolfson (1928-2012), a prominent American Jewish philanthropist in the 20th century. Born in Vilna to Avraham and Rachel Wolfovsky, after surviving the Holocaust he reached the United States ca. 1945 along with his mother and younger brother, and despite his young age of 17, he took upon himself to support them. Over the years his business affairs steadily improved, and he became well-known among American Jews for his wealth. His activities included fundraising for Torah and charitable institutions in Eretz Israel, and he attained large funds for them from the American Congress for support of foreign educational institutions. Wolfson worked extensively to promote Torah study and prevent assimilation that became common in the United States and other countries. He later established the Wolfson Fund (to which he dedicated a large portion of his wealth), which supported and continues to support Torah outreach activity, Torah institutions in remote locations, and outreach organizations such as Lev L'Achim, El HaMaayan,