Amazing Letter: Rabbi Shach's Famous and Overflowing Love of Torah

Amazing Letter: Rabbi Shach's Famous and Overflowing Love of Torah

You will always be intoxicated with her love

Lengthy and important letter that demonstrates the gaon Rabbi Elazar Menachem Mann Shach's famous and overflowing love of Torah. Entirely in his hand and with his signature, loaded with blessings for success in Torah. Kiryat HaYeshivah, Bnei-Brak, 1979.

The letter was sent to the gaon Rabbi Shimon Cohen in honor of his son's bar mitzvah, and it is primarily blessings for the bar mitzvah boy from the leading rosh yeshivah and leader of the Torah world: "May he ascend ever upward in Torah study and may you have much nachat from him. With appreciation and honor appropriate to [your] status, one who blesses [you] with all goodness, Elazar Menachem Mann Shach." This is the content of the letter and its signature.

After his signature, Rabbi Shach continues with an additional lengthy passage, over twice the length of the letter, about a comment made to him by the addressee on Tractate Kiddushin. This passage demonstrates well Rabbi Shach's overflowing love of Torah, as even in the margins of a standard bar mitzvah letter, he cannot hold himself back from delving into the depths of yeshivish topics - like oxygen to a drowning man.

This letter demonstrates, in black-on-white, the famous story from the first Knessiah Gedolah. All Chareidi Jewish leaders participated, led by the Chafetz Chaim and Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinsky. A short avreich burst into the room in the midst of the conference and ran towards Rabbi Chaim Ozer. He whispered together with him for a few minutes, and then turned to leave. In response to the astonishment of those gathered, Rabbi Chaim Ozer explained that this avreich is entirely immersed in Torah, and the previous night they had discussed a complex scholarly topic. Just now an idea popped in the avreich's head as to how to resolve the problem, and due to his deep immersion in the Torah, he did not have the heart to turn him away. He was unaware of what was happening around him, hence his running inside with the joy of his resolution ... Obviously, this avreich was Rabbi Shach! There were rabbis at the conference who did not take kindly to this behavior. Among the rabbis attending was the renowned Admo"r Rabbi Avraham Elimelech of Karlin, who was known as a wise and sacred man. He immediately turned to Rabbi Chaim Ozer at the end of the conference and requested "This is exactly the type of avreich I would like to serve as my rosh yeshivah, to be an example to the young Chassidim." Indeed, the "Litvish" Rabbi Shach served from that time for many years as leader of the senior Chassidic yeshivah in Karlin.

Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of Rabbi Menachem Mann Shach.

[1] leaf paper, approximately 25 cm. Official stationery. Entirely in Rabbi Shach's hand and with his signature. Laminated for protection.

Very fine condition. Fold marks. Not examined outside the lamination.