Bidspirit auction | Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer –

Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer – Notes and Source References for a Public Shiur - Outline and source references for a shiur klali (general lecture) on the topic of partnerships (shutfim), delivered by Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer. Autograph manuscript, in his own handwriting. At the top of the page he wrote: “The shiur, G-d willing, Parashat Chayei Sarah, 5707 (1946).” The content of the lecture is arranged in five sections. [1] sheet of paper. 16×20 cm. Neat writing in three columns. Very good condition; light stains. Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer (1870–1953) – known by the title of his monumental work Even HaEzel – was among the greatest Torah scholars and Rosh Yeshivot of the Lithuanian and early Israeli Torah world. A disciple of the Malbushei Yom Tov, the Chafetz Chaim, and Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk, he displayed extraordinary brilliance already as a youth and was the youngest student at the Volozhin Yeshiva, where he was nicknamed “Zunya Mirrer” after his hometown Mir. He served as Rosh Yeshiva of Slabodka, then from 1897 as Rosh Yeshiva of Slutsk (and later as its rabbi), and from 1925 until his passing as Rosh Yeshivat Etz Chaim in Jerusalem. His students include many of the greatest Torah leaders of the 20th century: Rabbi Aharon Kotler (his son-in-law), Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, Rabbi Elazar Menachem Man Shach, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and his son Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, Rabbi Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz, and several Chief Rabbis of Israel. Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik (the Brisker Rav) once quoted his father, Rabbi Chaim of Brisk, as saying that among all Lithuanian Roshei Yeshiva, “the greatest of them all was Rabbi Isser Zalman.” In Volozhin, it was customary to rank students’ brilliance as “quarter geniuses, ” “half geniuses, ” etc.—but, said Rabbi Chaim, “the only one who was ever called a complete genius was Zunya Mirrer.” In addition to his towering scholarship, Rabbi Isser Zalman was revered for his piety and humility. A well-known and whispered story among Jerusalem’s elders recounts that his wife, a woman of means and refinement, once asked him to promise that they would be together in Gan Eden. He replied that this would not be possible, as her traits were not yet sufficiently perfected. When she asked how she could merit such closeness, he answered that she should accept upon herself bizyonot (humiliations) in this world. She did so faithfully, and he would even assist her in fulfilling this acceptance—an expression of their profound spiritual partnership. An exceptional autograph page of Torah thought from one of the greatest Roshei Yeshiva and spiritual giants of the generation.