A special and heartfelt letter requesting support for Yeshivat ‘Torat Chesed’ in Brisk under the leadership of the illustrious Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Halevi Soloveitchik and the Rosh Yeshiva, the great Rabbi Yisrael Chaim Kaplan.
Signed by the Gaon Maran Rabbi Yitzchak Ze’ev Halevi Soloweitchik Ab’d brisk, & the Rosh Yeshiva the famed Gaon Rabbi Yisroel Chaim Kaplan.
Brisk, 1936. On official stationary & handstamps of the 2 signatories.
” It’s unnecessary to describe before His Eminence, the magnitude of the value of our holy Yeshiva "Torat Chesed" in Brisk, which was founded about forty years ago by my father & rebbi the holy and revered leader, Maran Chaim Halevi Soloveitchik, may his memory be a blessing. For it is already well-known in the corridors and widely publicized that it stands among the most important yeshivas in our country, and today it is one of the ancient fortresses of Torah that Israel can boast about.
…the members of our yeshiva who sacrifice their lives on the altar of the Torah with wonderful diligence suffer poverty and deprivation, the shame of actual hunger.
…And in the merit of their strong commitment to Torah, they shall be blessed with the blessings of those who hold fast to it and study it diligently. They shall enjoy long, happy, and prosperous lives, and a happy and kosher holiday…
Yitzchak Zev, son of the Gaon & Chassid Rabon Shel Kol Bnei Hagolah Maran Chaim Halevi Soloveitchik, may his memory be a blessing".
The famous Gaon Maran Rabbi Yitzchak Ze’ev Halevi Soloweitchik (1887-1959), son and disciple of Rabbi Chaim of Brisk and grandson of the Netziv of Volozhin and of the Beis Halevy. Rabbi of Brisk (from 1918), he escaped to Eretz Yisrael in 1941 and established the Brisk Yeshiva in Yerushalayim. The Rabbi of Brisk was famous for his wide and deep Torah knowledge and his great stringency in halacha. Author of Chidushei Maran Riz HaLevy.
The famed Gaon Rabbi Yisroel Chaim Kaplan [1895-1970] a remnant of one of the most important families of the Lithuanian Torah world between the two World Wars. His brother was the famed Gaon Rabbi Elazar Ze’ev Kaplan, the Mashgi’ach of the Radin yeshiva headed by the Chofetz Chaim. After the passing of the Imrei Moshe of Brisk, Rabbi Yisroel Chaim was appointed the Rosh Yeshiva of the large yeshiva of Brisk. After the Holocaust, served as the Mashgi’ach of the Beis Midrash Elyon yeshiva in Monsey.
Rabbi Chaim HaLevi Soloveitchik, rabbi of Brisk, founded the Torahs Chesed yeshiva in Brisk in the late 1890’s. He first appointed Rabbi Simcha Zelig Reguer, posek in Brisk, as its dean, and later Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik of Brisk, author of Imrei Moshe.The Mashgiach at the yeshiva was Rabbi Avraham Yaakov Gordon. The elite yeshiva students even heard lessons from the rabbi of the city, Rabbi Yitzhak Ze’ev Soloveitchik, about Seder Kadeshim.
After the death of Rabbi Sokolovsky in 1933, the Brisker Rav wanted too appoint Harav Schac as head of the yeshiva in his place. He came to Brisk for a trial period, but after it was explained to him that he would have to bear the financial burden of the yeshiva, he refused to accept the position. Rabbi Israel Chaim Kaplan was appointed in his place.This yeshiva operated until the Holocaust. (Its renowned alumni, from its final years, include: Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik of Switzerland, his colleague Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Leib Steinman, Rabbi Ze’ev Eidelman of Bnei Brak, and many other leading scholars of the yeshiva world).
The recipient the Gaon Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak HaLevi Segal (1881-1947), a disciple of the Alter of Novardok. A founder of the Etz Chaim yeshiva in London, he also established the Manchester yeshiva, which he headed for some 35 years.
Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak was an outstanding Torah scholar and an exalted Tzaddik. He devoted himself to disseminating Torah, and many of the rabbis of that time were his disciples (including Rabbi Shaul Wagschal of Gateshead, Rabbi Shmuel Alexander Unsdorfer, and others). Hegyonei Moharsha (p. 18, see enclosed copy) brings the wondrous testimony of two of his disciples, whose deceased father appeared to R. Moshe Yitzchak in a dream, requesting that he carefully supervise his orphaned sons. R. Moshe Yitzchak related the dream to them and asked them not to publicize it.
His son and successor as dean of the yeshiva was Rabbi Yehuda Ze’ev Segal (1911-1993), a holy Tzaddik and wonder-worker, who was very active in raising the awareness of the importance of guarding one’s speech, and was known as the Chafetz Chaim of England).
Repaired marginal tears, filing holes. 28.3 Cm.
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Lot #252