Bidspirit auction | “Threefold Blessing” – A Letter

“Threefold Blessing” – A Letter Abounding with Extraordinary Sacred Blessings, Entirely Handwritten by the Skulen Rebbe, Rabbi Eliezer Zusia Portugal – Tishrei 1968 - Exceptional Letter of Blessings – Entirely Handwritten and Signed by the Skulen Rebbe, Rabbi Eliezer Zusia Portugal – Brooklyn, 1968 An exceptional sacred letter, filled from beginning to end with warm and heartfelt blessings, entirely handwritten and signed by the holy Rebbe Rabbi Eliezer Zusia Portugal of Skulen, renowned for the extraordinary power of his blessings. Brooklyn, Tishrei 1968. The entire letter is interwoven with warm blessings, in an abundance and intensity rarely encountered in the Rebbe’s other letters. It opens with the blessing “A good and blessed year, ” and continues with blessing upon blessing, as the Rebbe invokes Divine salvation, success and abundance in all the recipient’s endeavors. During the letter, the Rebbe assures him: “With the help of Hashem Yitbarach, your reward is great.” The blessings reach their climax toward the end of the letter. Before affixing his sacred signature, the Rebbe devotes several lines to an extraordinary succession of blessings, blessing the recipient with the Divine salvation he requires; that Hashem grant him success in all his endeavors; that he merit to perform good deeds amid abundance and contentment; and that he merit to raise his descendants in the path of the holy Torah, with serenity and holiness. Toward the conclusion, the Rebbe adds and reiterates his blessings with a “threefold blessing, ” in his own sacred words: “I shall conclude with a threefold blessing, with the eternal threefold Torah, and with the true and complete Redemption, speedily in our days, Amen. His loving and devoted friend, Eliezer Zusia… Portugal.” The Story Behind the Exceptional Abundance of Blessings The reason for the unusual profusion of blessings becomes apparent from the contents of the letter itself. A Jew who had formerly been one of the wealthy residents of Klausenburg, Romania, came to the Rebbe. The Rebbe had known him from the period when he himself had lived behind the Communist Iron Curtain. While the Rebbe had succeeded in escaping, this Jew – whose name is explicitly mentioned in the letter – remained behind, was apprehended and imprisoned by the Communist authorities. Eventually, he too succeeded in escaping and reaching the free world, but arrived destitute and bereft of everything, having lost both his former status and his property. In the present letter, the Rebbe appeals to one of the prominent philanthropists of Antwerp, also named explicitly in the letter, asking him to provide the refugee with an interest-free gemach loan that would enable him to re-enter the world of commerce, rebuild his livelihood and once again stand on his own feet. The Rebbe emphasizes the great merit of the mitzvah described by the Torah with the words “Vehechezakta bo” – “You shall support him”: not merely giving charity to a poor person after he has already fallen, but supporting a person before his collapse and enabling him to regain the ability to earn an honorable livelihood. Regarding this special opportunity, the Rebbe employs the expression: “Merit is brought about through one who is meritorious.” It is evident that, in his intense desire to persuade the recipient to undertake this important mitzvah, the Rebbe goes to exceptional lengths, repeatedly showering him with warm and extraordinary blessings – culminating in the “threefold blessing, with the eternal threefold Torah.” Beyond its significance as an important Chassidic Judaica item – a complete letter entirely handwritten and signed by one of the great Rebbes of the previous generation – and beyond its important message concerning the supreme value of enabling a person to support himself with dignity, the letter also carries special segulah significance. As is well known, in Chassidic tradition, sacred manuscripts written by Tzaddikim and Gedolei Yisrael have long been regarded as possessing special segulah value and have been treasured throughout the generations as tried and trusted amulets for protection and success. All the more so in an exceptional letter such as the present one, which not only bears the sacred handwriting and signature of the Skulen Rebbe – one of the renowned miracle-working Tzaddikim of his generation – but is filled throughout with explicit blessings for success, salvation, abundance, nachat, descendants who follow the path of Torah, and the complete Redemption. [2] pages. 21 × 14 cm. Very good condition. Fold marks. The Skulen Rebbe, Rabbi Eliezer Zusia Portugal The Rebbe Rabbi Eliezer Zusia Portugal [1898–1982], the first Rebbe of the Skulen dynasty, which today numbers thousands of Chassidim, primarily in the United States. He was recognized as a prodigious Torah scholar from an early age. When his father passed away, Rabbi Eliezer Zusia was only seventeen years old,