Bidspirit auction | Letter from Rabbi Shlomo Zalman

Letter from Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Ehrenreich of Shamloi Hy”d – 1937 * A handwritten and autographed letter by Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Ehrenreich, Av Beis Din of Shamloi, addressed to Rabbi Yeshaya Furst, Av Beis Din of the Kehillas Adas Yisrael in Vienna, and a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah. In the letter, the Gaon of Shamloi requests assistance on behalf of his son, Rabbi Yehoshua (who would later serve as Av Beis Din of Shamloi), who had become ill with an eye condition and required travel to a professor practicing in Vienna — the city of the recipient’s rabbinic post. “I respectfully ask the esteemed gaon to extend his support to my dear son, a distinguished talmid chacham of fine lineage, and to guide and assist him as needed… and I trust that Your Honor will not mind my turning to you in this matter, for I have long known your kind and generous heart.” He concludes with a heartfelt blessing: “May you continue to flourish even in advanced age, with strength and vitality, until the restoration of the Urim VeTumim; and may your eyes, together with ours, merit to behold the rebuilding of Zion and Jerusalem speedily in our days, through Mashiach Tzidkeinu.” Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Ehrenreich of Shamloi, Hy”d (1863–1944) , was one of the leading Gedolei Hador and leaders of Hungary in the pre-Holocaust era. Raised in the presence of his illustrious grandfather, the Kol Areyh, he was blessed in his youth by Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch of Liska and the Heichal HaBrachah of Komarno. At his bar mitzvah drasha, delivered in his grandfather’s home, he greatly impressed all who heard him. He was the Rav of Shamloi and author of Shu”t Lechem Shlomo, Even Shlomo, and more. Revered by all the tzaddikim of his generation, it was known that the Rebbe of Ratzfert would direct questioners to him, often saying, “There is no one in this generation who responds with halachic clarity like the Rav of Shamloi.” Likewise, the Rebbe of Nasod, leader of thousands of chassidim, would approach him with great humility and seek his blessing. He was murdered with his community in Auschwitz in 1944, Hy”d. Rabbi Yeshaya Furst (1857–1943)  was one of the greatest disciples of the Ksav Sofer and his son, the Shevet Sofer, in the Pressburg yeshiva. He was the son of Rabbi Moshe, Av Beis Din of Maros-Vasarhely, author of Mareh Moshe, and son-in-law of Rabbi Shalom Kutna, Av Beis Din of Eisenstadt. For more than seventy years, he disseminated Torah and Yiras Shamayim in Klal Yisrael. He served as Av Beis Din in the cities of Tyrnau and Presov, and later led the chareidi community of Vienna. Alongside his extensive halachic responsibilities, he bore the burden of communal leadership and partnered in numerous efforts to strengthen and support the needs of European Jewry together with the Gedolei Hador. Shamloi, 1937. A full page in the handwriting and with the signature of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Ehrenreich. Size : 21×17 cm. Condition : Good.