Bidspirit auction | Autograph Manuscript Pamphlet Concerning Participation

Autograph Manuscript Pamphlet Concerning Participation in Elections for the “Knesset of the Minim” - Autograph Leaves Concerning Participation in Elections By the Militant Defender of the Faith – Rabbi Amram Blau, Leader and Founder of Neturei Karta Presented here are ten substantial autograph leaves in the hand of Rabbi Amram Blau zt”l, addressing the issue of participation in elections and the broader question of the ultra-Orthodox stance toward the institutions of the State. These are not a formally prepared treatise or pamphlet, but rather a sequence of handwritten pages—Torah arguments, halachic reasoning, and fervent ideological statements—reflecting the author’s uncompromising position on the matter of elections. The writing is direct and forceful, at times polemical, interwoven with Talmudic sources, references to earlier authorities, and clear ideological argumentation. Rabbi Amram Blau (1900–1974), leader and founder of Neturei Karta, was renowned for his zealous opposition to Zionism and the State of Israel. In 1938 he published a manifesto signed “Neturei Karta, ” a name that thereafter became permanently associated with him and his followers. He organized stormy demonstrations against Sabbath desecration and issues of public morality, and was repeatedly arrested or assaulted as a result of his activism. During one of his imprisonments following protests against Sabbath desecration, the Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz came to visit him—an exceptional gesture given the ideological differences between the two figures. When questioned about the visit, the Chazon Ish famously responded: “I am going to visit the Sabbath itself, which is sitting in prison.” The present leaves constitute a vivid and unmediated testimony to Rabbi Blau’s ideological world on this sensitive and significant issue. The fact that they are in his own hand, including corrections and deletions, lends the item particular authenticity and historical value. Physical Description [10] leaves, approx. 35 × 21 cm. Complete autograph manuscript, with corrections and revisions. Good condition.