Collection of Various Letters and Documents

A. Letter of Rabbi Avraham Ya'akov Gershon Lesser of Chicago to Rabbi Shmuel Salant. 1883.
Letter to Rabbi Shmuel Salant, the rabbi of Jerusalem, from the managers of the General Committee in Chicago about sending an amount of $125 to the fund of the General Committee. The letter is handwritten by Rabbi Avraham Ya'akov Gershon Lesser and it is signed by the managers. On the reverse side there are several additional lines in Rabbi Lesser's handwriting inquiring as to Rabbi Salant's health. At the margins of the letter there is an impressive stamp of Rabbi Lesser. 18.4.1883.
Rabbi Lesser was born in Lithuania. He studied at Mir Yeshiva and served as the rabbi of several cities in Lithuania. He moved to the USA in 1880 and served as the rabbi of the Bnei Ya'akov Synagogue in Chicago. He was among the founders of the Association of American Rabbis and served as its president. He wrote several books, among them 'Be'Achrit ha'Yamim' and 'Chidushei Beit Ha'Midrash' which received the agreement of the Natziv of Volozhin. He was most active in fundraising for the poor of the Land of Israel.
Size: 20X25 cm.
Condition: Excellent.
B. Notes with Biblical and Kabbalah discourse. Bucharest, 1900.
Notes on Kabbalah matters and the intentions during the blowing of the shofar on Rosh Ha'shana. They were probably written in Bucharest in 1900. The writing combines regular writing with artistic one in square letters. The content indicates that this was probably a homiletical sermon.
An additional page, probably in the same handwriting, contains a homiletical sermon about the verse from the Book of Lamentations: "Tzara Kemavkira".
Three pages written on both sides, two of them are large and one is of medium size.
Condition: Very Good.
C. Long heartbreaking letter about the state of the Jews under the communist rule in Rumania.
Heartbreaking letter sent from Bucharest in 1951 from an anonymous writer to his brother. In the letter, he mourns the bitter situation, especially the spiritual one, of the Jews in Bucharest. Due to fear of the authorities, the letter is written in secret language and is full of hints and poetic phrases, as it says "word to the wise". For exa,ple, "You need to pinch your face for it to have color… here, all year round it is Simchat Torah [that is, candies are handed out and you are expected to shout Hurray]"
The letter indicates that the two brothers live in different places yet share the same bitter fate.
At the head of the page it is written: "I received the letter exactly on the day I went to our father's grave and cried for me and for you … may it be that their souls plea for us".
10 pp. (it may be that few pages are missing from the middle of the letter).
Size: 21X12 cm.
Condition: Very Good.
D. Kashrut certification from Rabbi Natan Neta Notkovitz, rabbinical judge of Rypin, hand written and signed by him. 1936.
Kashrut certification for butter from the Rata Dairy in Rypin, "for those who are not strict about butter of gentiles", handwritten and signed by Rabbi Notkovitz of Rypin, near Warsaw, and with his official stamp. Date: 4.10.36
Rabbi Natan Neta Notkovitz was a rabbi in Rypin since 1933. He was also known as a Zionist activist. Was the last rabbi of the Rypin community and died in the Warsaw Ghetto. His son died during the battles of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Size: 18X22 cm.
Condition: Very Good. Slightly stained. Filing holes.
E. Letter from Reb Kopel Visoker, head of the Petach Tikvah Council and among its founders. 1924.
Letter from 9.12.1924, from the head of the Petach Tikvah Council to "the members of the Rabbinate here". Visoker apologizes for being unable to come to them as they had requested due to pressure at the office. "The irrigation engineer of the philanthropist".
The letter is written on the official stationery of the local council of Petach Tikvah. At the head pf the page: "Telephone no. 4 is open day and night".
Reb Kopel Visoker (1895-1956) was born in Poland and in 1910 immigrated with his family to Israel and settled in Petach Tikvah. He was a diligent and successful farmer. He was chosen as chairman of the board of the colony and later as the head of the local council. He invested time and effort in various institutions. He was a member of the management of the Large Synagogue, among the founders of the old age home and of its first managers.
Size: 13X20 cm.
Condition: Very Good.
F. Manifest requesting Pidyon Kaparot for the Shmuel Fund. The thirties.
The manifest, which was probably handed out in the USA, asks the Jews of the Diaspora to support "the largest charity fund in the Land of Israel", Otzar Ha'Chaessed Keren Shmuel" and lists the goals of the Fund: A. to help the poor, small merchants, Torah scholars and immigrants by means of small loans with convenient payment terms; B. to build houses for the poor and the middle class, the payment for which will be small monthly amounts.
At the center of the page there is a large picture of the laying of the corner stone of the Kiryat Shmuel neighborhood (1929) in which Rabbi Kook can be seen giving a speech, when on the podium there us a large picture of Rabbi Shmuel Salant (after whom the Fund is named). Beside him stands Reb Alter Vishintzki, the founder of the Fund. On the side of the picture, an inscription in English and Yiddish.
Size: 20X25 cm.
Condition: Good.
G. Letter sent by Reb Yosef Horowitz, SHADAR (emissary of the rabbis) of Torat Chaim Yeshiva in Jerusalem, to the manager of the yeshiva.
The letter was written in 1939 and sent from Belfast in North Ireland.
Condition: Very Good. Folding marks.
Size: 20X20 cm.
H. Collection of four Ketubot. Romania and Israel
1. Two Ketubot from Chernivtsi, Romania, 1930.
2. Ketubah of the groom Shemarya Chayat (of Romanian descent), Tel Aviv, 1939.
3. Ketubah of a Sephardic couple, Lod, 1950.
Condition: Fair-Good.
I. Letter in Arabic-Hebrew sent from Port Sa'id in Egypt in 1939.
The letter is written in Arabic and Hebrew, both in Hebrew letters. It was written by S.M. Minzely on official stationery carrying the name and a stamp with his name. The letter is addressed to Shlomo Yitzchak Cohen of Tel Aviv, September 1939.
Size: 26X23 cm.
Condition: Excellent.