Bidspirit auction | “The Surviving Remnant” — Letter

“The Surviving Remnant” — Letter of the Union of Holocaust-Surviving Rabbis and Rebbes in France to Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog. 5707 [1946]. - ;After Years of Exile, Poverty, and Hardship — We Have Earned This Right” — Rare Letter of the Union of Rabbis and Rebbes Who Survived the Holocaust and Reached France | Cheshvan 5707 [1946] A rare and historically significant letter issued by the Union of Rabbis and Rebbes Exiled from Europe and Residing in France, written shortly after the Holocaust. Cheshvan 5707 [1946]. Signed by Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Weiss, Av Beit Din of Lodz, Rabbi David Weitzel, Av Beit Din of Branov, and Rabbi Baruch Zuckerman. The letter is addressed to the Chief Rabbi of Eretz Israel, Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Halevi Herzog, and concerns the organization of approximately two hundred Holocaust-surviving rabbis and rebbes who had found temporary refuge in France. The writers appeal to Rabbi Herzog to serve as their spiritual patron and representative, describing him as “the most important rabbinic personality of our generation, ” and requesting that he extend his protection and support not only to them but also to the widows and orphans of rabbis and rebbes murdered during the Holocaust. At the outset of the letter, the authors recall Rabbi Herzog’s celebrated rescue efforts on behalf of the surviving remnant of European Jewry: “Who wore out his feet and endangered his life to save the surviving remnant of Israel from the lands of blood.” This is a reference to Rabbi Herzog’s postwar journeys throughout Europe, during which he worked tirelessly to locate Jewish children hidden in monasteries and other institutions and sought to restore them to the Jewish people. The letter paints a poignant picture of the plight of the surviving rabbinic leadership. Men who had spent decades guiding Jewish communities were now left without resources, and in some cases were suffering even more acutely than other survivors: “Rabbis who served for decades as the spiritual leaders of Jewish communities, and who do not humble themselves to knock upon the doors of relief committees, suffer from want and poverty.” The signatories therefore request that these rabbis receive support and assistance “no less than the students of Torah and the yeshivot, ” and that efforts be made to facilitate immigration opportunities so that they might once again serve as teachers, spiritual leaders, and shepherds of the Jewish people. They conclude their appeal with the moving declaration: “After years of exile in various lands, and after years of poverty and hardship—we have earned this right.” The letter also contains the striking statement that: “Now, thank God, almost all the rabbis have been rescued from the lands of blood and arrived via Prague to France.” This appears to reflect either a hopeful early postwar impression or a general expression written before the full scope of the destruction of European rabbinic leadership had become completely clear. To the best of our knowledge, neither a letter nor an official document of the Union of Rabbis and Rebbes Exiled from Europe in France has previously appeared at public auction. [1] leaf, official organizational stationery, written on both sides. 27 cm. Condition: Very good. Fold marks. Filing holes. A remarkable postwar document, offering a rare glimpse into the efforts of Holocaust-surviving rabbis and rebbes to rebuild their lives and restore Jewish spiritual leadership in the aftermath of Europe’s destruction. It stands as a powerful testimony to the challenges, hopes, and aspirations of the surviving rabbinic elite in the years immediately following the Holocaust.