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 24:

Wonder of the Generation – A Rare and Lengthy Responsum in the Holy Autograph of the Rogatchover, Sent to the Chief ...

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Wonder of the Generation – A Rare and Lengthy Responsum in the Holy Autograph of the

Wonder of the Generation – A Rare and Lengthy Responsum in the Holy Autograph of the Image - 1

Wonder of the Generation – A Rare and Lengthy Responsum in the Holy Autograph of the Image - 2

Sold for: $4,400 (₪13,684)

Price including buyer’s premium: $ 5,500 (₪17,105)

Calculated by rate set by auction house at the auction day

Start price:

$ 2,000

Estimate :

$3,000 - $4,000

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:

Wonder of the Generation – A Rare and Lengthy Responsum in the Holy Autograph of the Rogatchover, Sent to the Chief Rabbi of Ireland!
An extensive letter of Torah novellae, spanning approximately 60 lines and comprising roughly 500 words, entirely in the holy autograph and signed by the “Gaon of Gaonim, ” Joseph Rosen, Av Beit Din of Dvinsk. Dvinsk, 11 Tishrei (1935).

The letter was sent to Dublin to the Chief Rabbi of Ireland, Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, in response to his halachic inquiry: whether it is permissible to write half-verses for an auxiliary purpose—such as teaching reading—in light of the well-known Talmudic principle: “Any verse that Moses did not divide, we do not divide.”

As is well known, many of the Rogatchover’s responsa are condensed into a few brief lines, sometimes even a mere list of terse references—“see there and see there”—with immense depth concealed within tightly packed allusions, requiring great effort on the part of the reader to decipher. Here, however, when addressing one of the leading sages of the generation—who would later serve as Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel—the Rogatchover departs from his usual brevity and presents an extended, orderly, and comprehensive responsum.

Although this responsum ranks among the longer examples of his autograph writings, every word is laden with a full conceptual world of distinctions and precision. In his characteristic manner, he interweaves sources from the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds, the writings of Maimonides, and other Rishonim, establishing fundamental principles concerning the sanctity of Scripture, the status of a complete verse versus part of a verse, and the distinction between the prohibition of partial recitation and writing for educational purposes.

Fortunately, this responsum was later fully deciphered by Torah scholars and published—together with the original query—in his work Tzafnat Pa‘aneach HaChadashot (Vol. III, §39). The published elucidation reveals the breadth and conceptual depth embedded in every line.

At the head of the letter, the Rogatchover records the date in a poetic phrase: “The morrow of Yom Kippur – a time of rejoicing, ‘eat your bread with joy.’” Even this line, touching upon aggadic themes and allusions to the sanctity of the day, received special explanation in the later published analysis (ibid., subsection 14). In this context, he references the second Tablets given on Yom Kippur and the profound dialectical Torah analysis transmitted to Moses, who generously shared it with Israel—“He has given of his bread to the poor – the latter Tablets.” This rare fusion of halacha and aggadah typifies his integrative vision, seeing all parts of Torah as a unified whole.

[1] Signed and postmarked postcard, written on both sides. Approximately 60 lines in the Rogatchover’s autograph and bearing his signature.

Very good condition.

The Gaon of Gaonim Joseph Rosen (1858–1936), known as the “Rogatchover, ” was a singular figure in the Jewish world, possessing a phenomenal mastery of Torah. A disciple of the Chabad and Kapust Rebbes and of the Beit HaLevi, he served as the Chassidic rabbi of Dvinsk (Latvia), alongside the Or Sameach.

Many legends are told about him—for example, that he could write two different letters simultaneously with both hands, and similar accounts. The poet Bialik once remarked that from his mind one could quarry two Einsteins; when this was repeated to the Rogatchover, he quipped: “And from the crumbs left over, one could quarry Bialik.”

His numerous halachic responsa were published in the multi-volume series Tzafnat Pa‘aneach. Due to the profundity of his thought and his terse, allusive style, his writings are characterized as “genius writing, ” often difficult for the average reader to penetrate—so much so that specialized Torah institutes were established solely to decipher and elucidate his works.