Bidspirit auction | Historical Letter Handwritten by Maran

Historical Letter Handwritten by Maran the Gaon Rabbi Aharon Kotler - Sent from Kleck on the Eve of the Holocaust Elul 1937 - Early letter with extraordinary important content handwritten and signed by the Gaon Maran Rabbi Aharon Kotler, the Rosh Yeshiva of Kleck and later Lakewood, the founder of the Torah world in America. Kleck, Lithuania, Elul 26, 1937. The letter is addressed to his friend, the Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu Botchko, the Rosh Yeshiva of Etz Chaim of Montreux, Switzerland.  The letter was sent on the eve of Rosh Hashanah 1937 תרצ”ח - the Hebrew year implying the future murders and destruction .  Indeed, the language the Rosh Yeshiva uses to describe the grim reality indicates his deep concern over what is about to happen:  ~ ”ולא נדע ח”ו מן התרועה ומן השברים”  - a chilling expression using the sacred words of the Tekiot of Rosh Hashanah to describe the fear and anxiety felt in Lithuania.  ~ ”ועינינו תחזינה היום... בהעברת כל הרשעה כולה מן הארץ”  - words that were written on the eve of the Holocaust and in hindsight have historical significance.  Blessings for wealth and abundance handwritten by Gedol Hador:  אברך בזה... בכתיבה וחתימה טובה לאלתר לחיים בספרן של צדיקים גמורים ויזכה לשנת חיים ושלום, שנת הצלחה מרובה ברוחניות וחמריות, שנת מילוי האסמים שפע” Not many know this but the first source for the vivrtue of being blessed by Gedolei Hador referred specifically to Rosh Yeshivas . It is introduced in Nimukei Yosef on Masechet bava Batra: ”מנהג זה בצרפת, כל מי שיש לו חולה מבקש פני הרב התופס ישיבה שיברך אותו” [This is the custom in France: whoever has a sick person [in their family] seeks out the Rabbi who heads the yeshiva to bless him].  These are thus B irkot Gefen - גפ”ן – בני, חיי ומזוני - handwritten by Gedol Hador and a foremost Rosh Yeshiva in Lithuania who established Torah study in America.  [1] leaf. Approx. 30 cm. Rare official stationery of the Kleck Yeshiva. With two stamps of the yeshiva and the Rosh Yeshiva. Handwritten entirely by the Gaon Rabbi Aharon Kotler.  Stains and a fold line. Good overall condition.  *** The Gaon Rabbi Aharon Kotler (1892-1963) a foremost leader and Gedol Torah before the Holocaust. In his youth studied at teh Slabodka Yeshiva and the Saba of Slabodka siad of him that it is worthwhile keeping all the students in the yeshiva if only to create the environment for Ahraleh Svislucher. When the Gaon Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik met him. he said that for forty years he had never met an Iluy such as he was. The Gaon Rabbi Meir Simchah Hacohen of Dvinsk said of him that he would be like Rabbi Akiva Eiger in his generation.