Bidspirit auction | Rare Kashrus Certificate in the

Rare Kashrus Certificate in the Handwriting of Rabbi Shmuel Gross Hy”d, Av Beis Din of Berbesti, Son-in-Law of Reb Yeshaya’le of Kerestir * A handwritten letter of kashrus certification, written and signed by the gaon and tzaddik Rabbi Shmuel Gross, Av Beis Din of Berbesti, a scion of the holy lineage of the Yismach Moshe of Ujhely. Rabbi Shmuel was the son-in-law of the famous tzaddik known throughout the Jewish world, Rabbi Yeshaya’le of Kerestir, son of Rabbi Moshe of Kerestir. Rabbi Shmuel Gross, Hy”d (1888–1944), was the son of the tzaddik Rabbi Raphael Gross, Av Beis Din of Berbesti, who was a son-in-law of Rabbi Yaakov Yukel Teitelbaum of Berbesti, a son-in-law of his uncle the Yetev Lev of Sighet, and a grandson of the Yismach Moshe. In his youth he received semichah from his uncle the Kedushas Yom Tov. From 1921 he served as Av Beis Din of Rishta, and from 1926 as Av Beis Din of Berbesti, the position previously held by his father and grandfather. In 1934 he moved to Carei, taking the place of his cousin Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, who relocated to Satmar. He stood at the head of a Chassidic yeshiva numbering approximately 150 bachurim, and from time to time would travel with his students for the Yamim Tovim to one of the Rebbes. During the Holocaust, he continued to teach Torah to the small number of remaining students, with literal mesirus nefesh, until he was murdered. From his writings, only Aleh Shmuel was printed (Brooklyn, 1963), an exceedingly rare work. He married the daughter of Rabbi Yeshaya’le of Kerestir and was supported by his father-in-law for approximately fifteen years. Very few remnants from him have survived. Berbesti, 1932. Size: 12.8 × 23.2 cm. Condition: Good; the letter underwent professional artistic restoration along the margins. Provenance: Tag Art Auction no. 12.