Bidspirit auction | ”How Deep is my Gratitude

”How Deep is my Gratitude to My Friend” Letter of Blessings from Rabbi Aharon Kotler Just Months Before the Holocaust Kletzk, 1939 * Autographed letter by the great gaon Rabbi Aharon Kotler, written during his tenure as Rosh Yeshiva of Etz Chaim in Kletzk, Poland, later to become the leading figure of American Jewry. In the letter, Rabbi Aharon expresses his gratitude to generous benefactors for their vital support in strengthening the yeshiva: ”How deep is my gratitude to my dear friend for his kindness to our holy yeshiva, as well as to the esteemed and modest Rebbetzin…” He blesses them:  ”May the Almighty send you His assistance to achieve great and wondrous accomplishments in strengthening Torah, with abundance, joy, and satisfaction from your dear children, may they live long, and may we soon merit to witness the elevation of the Torah's honor and our redemption.” The letter is dated Teves 1939, just months before the outbreak of the Holocaust. Less than a year later, in Cheshvan 1940, the yeshiva fled to Vilna. Rabbi Aharon Kotler (1892 - 1963) was a leading Lithuanian Rosh Yeshivah in the pre-Holocaust era and thereafter. Following the destruction of European Jewry, he worked tirelessly to rebuild the Yeshivah world in America, founding Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood and serving as the head of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah in the United States. Yeshivas Etz Chaim-Slutzk was considered one of the elite yeshivas of Lithuanian and Polish Jewry. It was founded by fourteen leading students of the Alter of Slabodka, and was headed by Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer. Later, the yeshivah moved to Kletzk, and after Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer moved to Eretz Yisrael, his son-in-law Rabbi Aharon Kotler was appointed as Rosh Yeshiva. The yeshivah had over 200 outstanding students. Following the outbreak of the Holocaust, the yeshivah fled to Vilna where it was ultimately closed in 1941. Kletzk, 1939. Letter written by a scribe with the signature of Rabbi Aharon Kotler, accompanied by his personal stamp: ”Aharon Kotler, Rosh Yeshiva.” Official Yeshiva stationery. Size: 21.3 × 28.6 cm. Condition: Good, with folding marks.