Bidspirit auction | Historical Content: Letter from Maran

Historical Content: Letter from Maran HaGaon HaRav Chaim Shmuelevitz – Shanghai, 1946 - ”The rescue of my sister and her son in every possible way” A historically significant letter, entirely handwritten and signed twice by Maran HaGaon Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz, Rosh Yeshivat Mir. Sent at the end of the Holocaust from Shanghai, China, where Yeshivat Mir took refuge during the war. Shanghai, Erev Shabbat Parashat Ki Tavo, 1946 (תש”ו). A Plea for Urgent Rescue The letter was written towards the end of the Holocaust and discusses the rescue efforts for his sister, Rebbetzin Gitl, wife of Rabbi Yehuda Leib Woldshtein, the Mashgiach of Novardok, who was martyred in the Holocaust [a letter from him also appears in this auction], and their son, Rabbi Raphael. Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz spares no effort or expense, emphasizing the urgency and life-threatening nature of the situation: ”He is now in a terrible situation, where he is compelled to travel for reasons of pikuach nefesh (saving a life)...” Ultimately, his sister and nephew were saved, though his brother-in-law perished in the Holocaust. They later immigrated to the Land of Israel, where Rebbetzin Gitl remarried the Mashgiach of Yeshivat Mir, Rabbi Chaim Zev Finkel, and Rabbi Raphael married Mina, granddaughter of the Tzaddik Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Herman. Additional Historical Insights in the Letter ”Many from the holy yeshiva have already traveled to America, and in the end, it seems that all will go. And what can we do when the gates of the Land of Israel are closed for now? But salvation is in the hands of Hashem.” Mention of the Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel: ”Please, please, meet with my esteemed father-in-law (מו”ח שליט”א).” [1] page of paper, approx. 27 cm Condition: Very good. Age stains, folding marks. Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz (1903–1979), Rosh Yeshivat Mir, was one of the greatest Roshei Yeshivot of the previous generation. Grandson of the ”Saba of Novardok” and son-in-law of Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, Rosh Yeshivat Mir. A prime disciple of Rabbi Shimon Shkop, who highly esteemed him and appointed him as a senior lecturer for the younger students of the yeshiva. From 1936 onward, he began delivering shiurim at Yeshivat Mir, continuing for over forty years. Leadership Amidst the Holocaust – From Lithuania to Shanghai With the outbreak of World War II, as the yeshiva fled through Lithuania, Japan, and eventually Shanghai, Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz became the de facto Rosh Yeshiva. He delivered shiurim uninterruptedly, leading the yeshiva alongside the Mashgiach, Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein. During the yeshiva’s exile in Shanghai, he bore not only the burden of Yeshivat Mir but also the enormous financial responsibility for all the other exiled yeshivot. At the height of a global war, he journeyed from city to city, country to country, and continent to continent, ensuring the survival of Torah scholarship. Shanghai – A Modern-Day Noah’s Ark Volumes have been written about the exile of Torah scholars in Shanghai during the Holocaust, a time when Jewish Europe was being decimated. In the midst of divine concealment, Shanghai became a miraculous refuge that safeguarded the future spiritual leadership of the Jewish people. It was a modern-day Noah’s Ark, preserving Lithuanian Torah institutions and their leaders from the depths of destruction in Europe.