Bidspirit auction | Letter by Rebbetzin Rasha-Leah Karelitz,

Letter by Rebbetzin Rasha-Leah Karelitz, Mother of Maran the Chazon Ish. Kosova, 1932. - A rare and moving postal card, entirely in the handwriting and signed by Rebbetzin Rasha-Leah Karelitz, mother of Maran the Chazon Ish, one of the noble and modest figures of the Karelitz family, who merited to raise generations of Torah and reverence. Before us is a precious family relic bearing the handwriting of the distinguished mother in whose home was shaped the character of one of the greatest Jewish leaders of the modern era. Letters from members of the Chazon Ish family in general, and from his mother in particular, are exceedingly rare. Rebbetzin Rasha-Leah was the wife of Rabbi Shmaryahu Yosef Karelitz, rabbi of Kosova, and daughter of Rabbi Shaul HaLevi, rabbi of Kosova and Kobrin. She was renowned for her righteousness, modesty, and nobility of character, and was also learned and well-versed in books — a distinguished and uncommon quality for a woman of her generation. In later years she ascended to the Land of Israel and lived near the residence of her son, Maran the Chazon Ish, who treated her with extraordinary honor and affection. Each morning she would come to pray in the minyan held in his home, and the Chazon Ish would trouble himself daily to carry a shtender before her, so that she might place her prayer book upon it. When she returned home, he would escort her personally with reverence and devotion. These accounts, preserved by his תלמידים and close associates, illuminate with precious light the Chazon Ish’s devotion in honoring his mother, and the profound bond between him and his saintly mother. The Rebbetzin passed away in 1940 and was buried on the Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery. Upon her gravestone was engraved a text composed by the Chazon Ish himself: “Here lies the Rebbetzin Rasha-Leah, daughter of the gaon Rabbi Shaul HaLevi... wife of the gaon Rabbi Shmaryahu Yosef Karelitz...” In later years, after the destruction wrought in the cemetery by enemy hands, it was discovered that her tombstone had remained whole and untouched — a matter of great wonder among those who knew of it. Before us is a rare and deeply moving item — the pen of the righteous mother who merited to be the mother of Maran the Chazon Ish, and a living testimony to the great household from which the light of Torah emerged for future generations. [1] Yiddish postal card, entirely in her handwriting and signed. Condition: Very good.