Lengthy Letter Handwritten and Signed by the Rebbe Rayatz of Lubavitch – In the Lifetime of His Father the Rashab ...

Lengthy Letter Handwritten and Signed by the Rebbe Rayatz of Lubavitch – In the Lifetime of His Father the Rashab, Before the Appointment of the Rayatz as Rebbe – Av 1912 – Inquiry About the Expenditures of the Torat Emet Yeshiva in Hebron – "Give the Students My Warmest Regards, Since They Delve in the Truth"

Letter (over 50 lines) handwritten and signed by Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn – the Rayatz of Lubavitch. Zaol'sha (holiday resort near Lyubavichi), 10th Menachem Av 1912. Written on the official stationery of Rebbe Rayatz of Lubavitch.
Addressed to R. Shlomo Zalman Havlin (1877-1936), dean of the Torah Emet yeshiva in Hebron, during the time the Rayatz served as head of the various branches of the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva, and was the close attendant of his father Rebbe Rashab in his holy work and communal activities.
The letter, sent eight months after the establishment of the Hebron branch of the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva, contains an inquiry about the yeshiva's accounts and the expenses involved in providing for the students and staff.
At the beginning of the letter, the Rayatz reprimands R. Shlomo Zalman Havlin for the brief and inadequate report he sent regarding the students "there is still no order in external matters… I have no idea who the students are, what they are like, what they are studying…". The rebbe also reproaches him for the disorderliness of the yeshiva's accounts "all I can see is that there is no precise reckoning and order, he only spends money at the expense of the wealthy supporters".
Further in the letter, the Rayatz scrutinizes the various payments and expenses (rent, cleaning, sewing, alterations and laundry, travel…), and sharply rebukes R. Shlomo Zalman Havlin for the extravagant spending, "this way does not lead to moral ethics, and will not bring any good, if only it doesn't cause damage…". The Rayatz then instructs R. Havlin how to keep accurate and organized financial records.
At the end of the letter, the Rayatz blesses him: "May G-d Help us hear and inform of only good tidings", and asks him to give his regards to the students: "Give the students my warmest regards, since they delve in the truth".
This letter was published in HaMashpia (pp. 263-264), and in Igrot Kodesh of the Rayatz (vol. I, letter 39), with extensive omissions.

[1] leaf (2 written pages), official stationery. 27.5 cm. Fair condition. Browned paper. Folding marks. Tears, one leaf is torn along its entire width into two parts, affecting text. Small open tear in corner.