Bidspirit auction | A Rare Historical–Torah Document: Preparations

A Rare Historical–Torah Document: Preparations for the Second Siyum HaShas Bearing the Signatures of the Leaders of Agudat Israel. Lublin, 5698 [1938] - An important historical letter from the organizing committee of the Siyum HaShas celebration under the auspices of Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin, in preparation for the completion of the Talmud in the second cycle, scheduled to take place in Sivan 5698. The letter is typewritten on official letterhead of Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin and bears the handwritten signatures of the rabbis, together with the stamp of Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin and the stamp of the organizing committee for the Siyum HaShas celebration. Lublin, Cheshvan 5698 [November 1937]. Heading the signatories is the leader of Agudat Israel, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Levin, son of the holy gaon of Bendin and son-in-law of the Rebbe, author of Imrei Emes of Gur. Alongside him are the signatures of Rabbis Eliahu of Azor, Yosef Koenigsberg, and Ze’ev Gutteld. The letter was sent to Rabbi Eliahu Botschka, Rosh Yeshiva of Montreux, Switzerland, inviting him—together with other leaders of Orthodox Jewry—to accept appointment as a member of the presidency (“Protectorate”) of the celebration of the second Siyum HaShas, an event which, as stated in the letter, stood “at the center of the interest of the entire Jewish public.” Alongside the great joy aroused by the Siyum HaShas celebrations throughout Jewish communities worldwide, as described in the letter, preparations were overshadowed by the fact that the originator of the idea, Rabbi Meir Shapiro, of blessed memory, had passed away in the prime of his life and did not merit to participate in the celebration. The members of the yeshiva lament in their letter the premature passing of their leader, who left no descendants, and they proclaim—not a person, but Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin itself—as bearing the title of “successor to Rabbi Meir Shapiro.” The organizing committee further lays out before the leaders of the generation its plan to inspire the Jewish public in anticipation of the great day, and to emphasize the necessity of celebrating the Torah. The deep influence of Rabbi Meir Shapiro upon the authors is clearly evident, as they outline far-reaching plans for the future, in the spirit of his monumental endeavors and the unique vision that characterized him. The letter was sent at the beginning of the year 5698—a year concerning which interpreters of numerological allusions expounded that its numerical designation (taratzach) hinted at the murders and destructions that began in that year, unprecedented since the creation of the world. Within two years, the axe fell upon Polish Jewry, and all the grand plans went up in flames, may God avenge their blood. The rabbis also refer in the letter to the unstable global situation and to the dire condition of the Jewish people in the Diaspora: “It is surely unnecessary to point out the terrible destruction of the nation at this time, in which its spiritual destruction far surpasses its physical destruction”—a striking expression within the landscape of Orthodox Jewish leadership, addressing the fragile spiritual state on the eve of the Holocaust. [1] Sheet of official Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin letterhead, typewritten on both sides. Dimensions: 33 × 20.5 cm. Bearing the handwritten signatures of the rabbis. Condition: Good. Folding marks. Tiny tears at the margins and folds, without loss.