Bidspirit auction | A Rare and Confidential Letter

A Rare and Confidential Letter Handwritten by the Gaon Rabbi Moshe Kliers, Av Beit Din of Tiberias - Letter from the holy Gaon Rabbi Moshe Kliers, Av Beit Din of Tiberias and one of the great rabbis of Eretz Yisrael, to Rabbi Dov Ber Aryeh Abramowitz of the Union of Rabbis of the United States and Canada. The letter discusses the delayed arrival of *Chalukah* funds. Tiberias, 16 Tevet, 5683 [1923]. The livelihoods of the members of the Kolel in Tiberias [and throughout the land] depended solely on *Chalukah* funds. When these funds were delayed, they suffered extreme poverty, prompting the Av Beit Din of Tiberias to send this urgent letter to Jerusalem: ”We are in great distress here, and we are unable to pay the teachers, who are relying on this support, nor the yeshiva students.” At the end of the letter, Rabbi Kliers writes: *”I heard that Your Honor wishes to come here for several weeks; I would be very glad to meet with you.”* He also mentions having a confidential request that he cannot put in writing and wishes to discuss in person. **Specifications:** [1] Paper leaf. 28 cm. Blue checkered stationery of the Tiberias yeshiva, featuring an illustration of the yeshiva building. Entirely handwritten and signed by Rabbi Kliers. **Condition:** Good. Fold marks. Insect holes. Rabbi Moshe Kliers (1874–1934): The Ashkenazi rabbi of Tiberias and head of the *Ohr Torah* yeshiva at the tomb of Rabbi Meir Ba’al HaNes. A leading rabbi of Eretz Yisrael and a holy man, he was a prominent figure among the Slonim Chassidim in Eretz Yisrael. Rabbi Kliers was the son-in-law of Rabbi Yudel of Slonim and the brother-in-law of Rabbi Mattel of Slonim, under whom he served as a dayan in the Beit Din. He would often remain at the yeshiva continuously from Sunday to Thursday. In 1933, he fell ill and sent a letter to Rabbi Asher Ze’ev Werner, requesting that he come to Tiberias to succeed him as the city’s rabbi. His book *Torat HaAretz* is considered a foundational work in its field. **The Recipient:** Rabbi Dov Ber Aryeh Abramowitz (1865–1926) was born in Lithuania and served as a rabbi in Jerusalem before emigrating to the United States in 1892. There, he served as the rabbi of the Suvalk congregation in New York and was one of the founders and leaders of Yeshiva Rabbi Isaac Elchanan in New York and the Union of Rabbis of the United States and Canada. In 1920, he returned to Eretz Yisrael. His works include *Dat Yisrael*, *K'tav HaDat*, and *Sefer Ketubah*.