Bidspirit auction | Historic Letter Marking the End

Historic Letter Marking the End of the Shanghai Exile Securing a Visa for Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz in Shanghai: A Letter from His Father-in-Law, Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, Rosh Yeshiva of Mir * A letter from Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, founder of the magnificent Torah kingdom, the Mir Yeshiva, where countless Torah scholars and God-fearing individuals were nurtured. In the letter, the Rosh Yeshiva, affectionately known to all as “Reb Leizer Yuda, ” requests assistance in obtaining a visa for his son-in-law, the great gaon Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz, Rosh Yeshiva of Mir during the period of the Shanghai exile: “I also request regarding the matter which I telegraphed yesterday to Mr. Manheit, that he kindly send a visa to France for my son-in-law R' Chaim shlit”a and his family… and I ask that he please look into this matter and ascertain whether my request was fulfilled and the visa sent to my son-in-law R' Chaim and his family, may they live.” He further inquires whether there might be a possibility for Rabbi Chaim to travel by airplane (“aviron nesi’ah”), thereby shortening his journey. On the reverse side of the letter, he listed in English the names of his son-in-law Rabbi Chaim, his daughter Rebbetzin Chana Miriam, and his four grandchildren: Ettel, Rivka, Rafael (later Rosh Yeshiva of Mir), and Gittel. The effort to secure a visa for Rabbi Chaim’s departure from Shanghai carries profound historical symbolism. It represents the closing chapter of the legendary Shanghai exile. This remarkable chapter in Jewish history saw hundreds of bnei Torah, refugees from the war, immersed in ceaseless study and devotion under unimaginable hardship. Their sole desire was the holy daf Gemara, and at their head stood Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz, the Rosh Yeshiva of Mir in exile. Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel (1867–1965) was the Rosh Yeshiva of Mir and son of the Alter of Slabodka. He immigrated to Eretz Yisrael in 1941 where he reestablished the Mir Yeshiva and labored tirelessly to bring the bnei hayeshiva from Shanghai to the Holy Land. Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz (1903–1979), known in his youth as the Illui of Stutchin, came from the Grodno Yeshiva to Mir in 1925, where he immediately gained renown as one of its finest students. In 1930 he married the daughter of the Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel. Rabbi Chaim later served as Rosh Yeshiva of Mir in Shanghai and, after his father-in-law’s passing in 1965, succeeded him at the helm of the yeshiva in Jerusalem. Jerusalem, Av 1946. Air-mail letter typed on a typewriter, signed in the handwriting of Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel. Sent to London, to Rabbi Zeidel Smiatitzky, son-in-law of Rabbi Moshe Schneider, Rosh Yeshiva of Toras Emes – Schneider. Size: 19.3 × 23.2 cm. Condition: Good; folding marks and filing holes.