Auction 153 Exclusive Pre-Passover Sale Important Rabbinic Letters · Rare Books · Manuscripts · Judaica

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Mar 22, 2026

Jerusalem, Israel

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LOT 39:

“Blessed Be He Who Upholds” — A Letter to a Supporter of Torah and His Wife, from the Author of Birkat Shmuel ...

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“Blessed Be He Who Upholds” — A Letter to a Supporter of Torah and His Wife, from the Author of

“Blessed Be He Who Upholds” — A Letter to a Supporter of Torah and His Wife, from the Author of Image - 1

Sold for: $1,200 (₪3,732)

Price including buyer’s premium: $ 1,500 (₪4,665)

Calculated by rate set by auction house at the auction day

Start price:

$ 1,200

Estimate :

$2,000 - $3,000

Buyer's Premium: 25%

Auction took place on Mar 22, 2026 at Winner'S

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tags: Manuscript, Rabbinic letters

Item Overview

Description:

“Blessed Be He Who Upholds” — A Letter to a Supporter of Torah and His Wife, from the Author of Birkat Shmuel, Rabbi Baruch Dov Leibowitz
A rare and deeply moving letter of blessing from the holy Gaon Rabbi Baruch Dov (Ber) Leibowitz, author of Birkat Shmuel, one of the greatest disseminators of Torah in his generation and among the most eminent roshei yeshiva of all time; author of Birkat Shmuel, one of the most important and renowned foundational analytical works in Torah scholarship throughout the generations. Kamenitz, Lithuania, circa 1930.

“Herewith I bless you together with your esteemed wife,

the righteous woman who shall live long for good days and years,

with all blessings and success, with abundant nachat,

long life and good years; and for your sake

may the Almighty guard you, and may the blessing ‘Blessed be he who upholds…’ etc.

be fulfilled upon you together with your wife…

He who blesses and honors him,

Baruch Dov Leibowitz, Rosh Mesivta in the holy Yeshiva Beit Yitzchak.”

(The above section in his holy autograph.)

Before us is a letter consisting entirely of sacred blessings. The first part is typewritten; the second part—five lines comprising approximately sixty words—is entirely in his flowing holy handwriting, bearing his full signature and official seal. It is the autograph of one of the leading roshei yeshiva of his generation, among the great tzaddikim and wonder-workers who arose for the Jewish people.

The letter is printed on the official letterhead of the Yeshiva of Kamenitz, Lithuania, lending the document significant historical character. At the top of the letterhead, alongside the name of the yeshiva and its details in Hebrew and English, appears the portrait of the Gaon Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan of Kovno, in whose name the yeshiva was founded.

As is well known, the holy manuscripts of the great sages of the generations have long been regarded as a proven segulah for protection and success—particularly a letter composed entirely of explicit blessings, both material and spiritual.

The source for this custom is ancient and appears already in Nimukei Yosef on Tractate Bava Batra: “This is the custom in France—whoever has a sick person seeks the presence of the rabbi who presides over the yeshiva that he may bless him.”

All the more so when it concerns such a central figure in the world of the yeshivot, whose Torah—both oral and written—became one of the cornerstones of profound yeshiva study for generations.

Rabbi Baruch Dov (Ber) Leibowitz (1864–1940), author of Birkat Shmuel, was among the greatest disseminators of Torah in his era. A disciple of Rabbi Chaim of Brisk at the Volozhin Yeshiva, he was later invited to serve as Rosh Yeshiva of “Knesset Beit Yitzchak” in Slabodka. During the First World War, he wandered with his yeshiva to Minsk, Kremenchug, and Vilna, until finally establishing it in Kamenitz. Author of Birkat Shmuel on Talmudic sugyot, his oral and written teachings are foundational to the analytical yeshiva method of study.

[1] Leaf, 29 cm. Official letterhead. Approximately 60 words in his holy autograph, with signature and seal.

Condition: Good. Fold marks. Minor tears at the margins.