Bidspirit auction | Fascinating Hisotircal Content: Letter by

Fascinating Hisotircal Content: Letter by the Rosh Av Beit Din of London the Gaon Rabbi Shmuel Yitzchak Hillman to the Gaon Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Epstein after the 1929 Riots - London Elul 1929 - Letter with interesting historicla content by the Rosh Av Beit Din of London the Gaon Rabbi Shmuel Yitzchak Hillman to the Rosh Yeshiva of Slabodka in Lithuania and later the Rosh Yehusva of Hebron, the Gaon Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Epstein after the 1929 Riots. London Elul 1929.  The letter was written about a month after the 1929 Riots , when the Jewish world was still shocked from the massacre. Rabbi Hillman made efforts in those days to encourage the Jews of London to help the Hebron Yeshiva.  In his letter, Rabbi Hillman tells the Rosh Yeshiva that he had appealed to the wealthy Jews of London, demanding the huge sum of 5,000 pounds , whereas the three other rabbis with whom he had worked demanded only 1000 pounds.  He states that the wealthy Jews claimed that the yeshiva would probably be reimbursed by the government and recieve lots of donations from America. However, Rabbi Hillman did not concede: ”עמדתי בדרישתי כעמוד ברזל, וברוך ה' אהני לי שטותי [הועילה השטות שלי...] או שיטתי”  and eventually managed to raise the entire sum.  Later, he expresses his joy about the information that the yeshiva students had recovered from the events and returned to their study, citing excitedly: ”וקול התורה נשמע בחוצות ירושלים” - to where the yeshiva had been moved following the Riots.  A particularly moving and personal detail appears further on - giving the letter a profound personal dimension alongside its public and historical content - where Rabbi Hillman mentions the check he sent for his mother to the ”hospital.” His mother, who in her old age had immigrated to Eretz Yisrael on her own and lived near the Hebron Yeshiva, was severely injured during the Riots and survived death by feigning dead. [1] leaf. Approx. 25 cm. Written on both sides. Good condition. Fold lines. Filing perforations and slight wear to the lower edge, not affecting the text.  * * * The Gaon Rabbi Shmuel Yitzchak Hillman (1868-1953) studied at the Volozhin Yeshiva and received him rabbinic Semicha from the Aderet, Rabbi Raphael Shapira, Rabbi Meir Simcha Hacohen and the Radbaz. Immigrated to Britain and served as Av Beit Din of Glasgow, Scotland and later as Rosh Av Beit Din of London. In 1934, immigrated to Jerusalem, where he established the Or Torah Kollel, where many Gedolei Hador studied, including the Gaon Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, Rabbi Shmuel Halevi Wosner, Rabbi Binyamin Yehoshua Zilber and Rabbi Baruch Yitzchak Levin. His son-in-law was the Chief Rabbi the Gaon Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Halevi Herzog.