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A historic letter from the holy Gaon Rabbi Eliezer Hirshovitz, regarding the founding of the “Montreux Yeshiva” in Switzerland – which rescued the great Torah leaders of the generation during the Holocaust - An Important Historical Letter by the Holy Gaon Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Eliezer Hirshovitz ztuk”l hy”d, Rabbi of Taladsen, Iyohman, and Virblin – Containing Words of Strength and Blessing to His Distinguished Friend, the Gaon Rabbi Yerachmiel Eliyahu Botchko zt”l of Lithuania, on the Occasion of His Intention to Establish the Yeshiva “Etz Chaim” in Montreux, Switzerland, which would later become a refuge and lifesaving haven for several leaders of the generation during the years of destruction – among them the Gadol HaDor Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman. Lithuania, 1927 (תרפ”ז). The letter, written in Nissan 1927—approximately one month before the founding of the yeshiva—sheds rare light on the spiritual background that led to the establishment of a Torah center in the heart of materially affluent Switzerland: “May he succeed in his work to establish a place of Torah in his locale. May the hands of the select few who desire the preservation of Torah be strengthened, those who restore it in the places where it has fallen. And may the pleasantness of Hashem be upon him, to prepare a faithful place for Torah and fear of Heaven, and support him so that he may stand firm.” These prophetic words were fulfilled in their entirety. Not many years later, during the Holocaust, when the years of wrath descended and clouds of destruction spread across Europe, the “Etz Chaim” Yeshiva in Montreux became a place of refuge for the lions of the generation fleeing the flames. Among those who found shelter beneath its roof were several of the leading Torah luminaries of the next generation, foremost among them the young scholar Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman zt”l, who would one day lead the entire Torah world. At the time, Rabbi Shteinman—then a young student in Poland—was in grave danger of military draft. To avoid conscription he changed his name to Shteinman, yet even this attempt was unsuccessful. When the effort to immigrate to Eretz Yisrael failed, he received an exit visa to Switzerland as a student of the “Etz Chaim” Yeshiva headed by Rabbi Botchko. Rabbi Shteinman arrived in Switzerland at the beginning of Sivan 1937. There, among the Alpine mountains, he found a spiritual haven of Torah. Serving alongside him as teachers were Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik and Rabbi Aryeh Leib Glikson, grandsons of the Gaon Rabbi Chaim of Brisk—who themselves were saved thanks to the yeshiva. Thus Montreux—the quiet town on the lakefront—became a beacon of Torah that would illuminate the world. As Rabbi Hirshovitz wrote in his letter: “To prepare a faithful place for Torah and fear of Heaven… and may it be fulfilled in them: ‘You are all alive today!’” [1] Single leaf, 27 cm. Condition: Good. Age stains. On the reverse of the leaf appears the handwritten draft of Rabbi Botchko’s reply. Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Eliezer Hirshovitz hy”d, one of the great rabbis of Lithuania and Latvia in the previous generation, served as rabbi of Taladsen, Iyohman, and Virblin. Author of Meitav HaHigayon, Hilchot Im Olam, and more. A disciple of the Telz and Volozhin yeshivot and son-in-law of the Telz Rosh Yeshiva, the Gaon Rabbi Eliezer Gordon zt”l. He combined education, outlook, and broad communal influence. He was murdered al kiddush Hashem in the Holocaust on 6 Av 5701 (1941). Rabbi Yerachmiel Eliyahu Botchko zt”l, a disciple of the Alter of Novardok and one of the builders of Torah in western Europe, was born in Lithuania (1888) and married Rebbetzin Rivka Sternbuch a”h. In Iyar 1927 he founded the “Etz Chaim” Yeshiva in Montreux, Switzerland, which became a stronghold of living Lithuanian Torah in Europe and a place of refuge for Holocaust survivors. After his passing (1956), his son Rabbi Moshe Botchko continued his path and founded in Eretz Yisrael the “Heichal Eliyahu” Yeshiva, which is still headed today by his sons and grandsons.