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Lot : 35
“It is known that I never accepted any rabbinic position”
From Radin to Boston, Letter Entirely Handwritten by the Chofetz Chaim.
Radin, 1909.
“It is known that I never accepted any rabbinic position”
From Radin to Boston, Letter Entirely Handwritten by the Chofetz Chaim.
Radin, 1909.
“It is not my way ever to involve myself in matters pertaining to rabbanus… and it is known that I never accepted any rabbinic position.”
A complete handwritten letter in the holy handwriting of the great leader of Klal Yisrael, Rabbeinu Yisrael Meir HaKohen of Radin, author of Chofetz Chaim and Mishnah Berurah.
This remarkable letter powerfully emphasizes and reinforces the well-known fact that although the Chofetz Chaim never held any official rabbinic post, his influence extended worldwide, and his every word was regarded with the utmost reverence.
The letter has been preserved in its entirety together with the original envelope with the name and address of the Chofetz Chaim, as well as a registered postage stamp from the town of Radin and two additional stamps of 10 kopecks each from the Russian Empire.
Content of the letter:
A get and authorization (letter of appointment) were sent to the Chofetz Chaim from Boston for the appointment of a shaliach to deliver a get to a woman residing in Radin. The Chofetz Chaim discovered an error in the name of the shaliach, for in Radin there was no shamash named Shmuel Leib, but rather Moshe Leib. He further wrote that it would be preferable to appoint as a shaliach Rabbi Yitzchak Tzvi, who is described as “a learned man and the senior shamash of our beis medrash.”
He therefore sends the get and the authorization back to Boston, adding a request that they should not send it back to him again, since he never accepted rabbanus upon himself and does not involve himself in matters of rabbanus, particularly in matters of gittin, and especially as he was about to depart from Radin for an extended period.
The letter was sent to
Rabbi Zalman Yaakov Friederman (1865–1936), Rav of the Association of Holy Congregations in Boston, son-in-law of Rabbi Yaakov Lipschitz of Kovno, author of Emes Ve’Emunah, Nachalas Yaakov, and other works. Rabbi Zalman Yaakov maintained close ties with the Chofetz Chaim, assisted him in the dissemination of his sefarim, and supported the Radin yeshiva.
Rabbi Zalman Yaakov Friederman (1865–1936), Rav of the Association of Holy Congregations in Boston, son-in-law of Rabbi Yaakov Lipschitz of Kovno, author of Emes Ve’Emunah, Nachalas Yaakov, and other works. Rabbi Zalman Yaakov maintained close ties with the Chofetz Chaim, assisted him in the dissemination of his sefarim, and supported the Radin yeshiva.
There are two additional letters included regarding the issue of the letter:
1. Letter from the woman’s father, Rabbi Avraham Kaplan of Radin, who likewise writes in the name of the Chofetz Chaim to return the get and to send it instead to Rabbi Aryeh Mordechai Mirvish, Av Beis Din of Radin.
2. A letter from Rabbi Aryeh Mordechai Mirvis, Av Beis Din of Radin, to Rabbi Zalman Yaakov Friedman, in which he details the woman’s exact name, the proper way it should be written, and the particulars regarding the sending of the authorization. Folded leaf, 3 pages, with the original envelope.
Rabbi Aryeh Mordechai Mirvis (1859–1934) was a distinguished Torah scholar who studied in the famed yeshivos of Volozhin and Telz, as well as the Slabodka Kollel, and was among the first perushim of the Radin Yeshiva. In 1898, he was appointed Rav of Radin, where he enjoyed the profound esteem of the Chofetz Chaim, who would consult with him on numerous communal and rabbinic matters. In his approbation to Rabbi Mirvis’s work on Pirkei Avos, Me’or HaBanim U’Mussar HaYahadus (Warsaw, 1932), the Chofetz Chaim writes of him: “The renowned gaon and God-fearing scholar… Rabbi Aryeh Mordechai Mirvis, Av Beis Din of our city, Radin… I have known him for many years as a great scholar in Torah and yirah, one of the remnants of the old generation.”
Radin, 1909
Size: Leaf: 13 × 20 cm. Envelope: 8 × 14 cm.
Condition: Good.
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Condition: Good.
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Transcription of the Letter:
BS”D, 13 Nissan 1909
To the esteemed Rabbi Zalman Yaakov,
I hope this finds you well.
I received your letter together with the get and the other documents relating to the matter. I assume that the money will reach me shortly as well.
However, the husband forgot the name of the second shamash and wrote a different name. The first messenger writes that he is appointing a second messenger in Radin, by the name of Shmuel Leib, to deliver the get to the woman. However, there is no shamash in our town by that name, but by the name Moshe Leib.
I am therefore returning the get and the authorization to you.
I ask you not to send the get back to me during the summer as I have never involved myself in matters pertaining to the rabbinate, particularly in matters of gittin. As is well known, I have never accepted a rabbinical position upon myself. The husband will know where to send it without my involvement.
I also intend to be away from home during the summer for an extended period. The get should therefore be sent to someone else.
Regarding the messenger, the relatives have suggested that it would be preferable to send it through the father-in-law of the aforementioned Moshe Leib. His name is Yitzchak Tzvi; he is an intelligent and capable man and serves as the senior shamash in our beis medrash.
With great esteem and respect, and with best wishes for a chag same’ach,
Yisrael Meir HaKohen of Radin
