Auction 10
Lot 406:
Letter by Rav Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, HaNatziv of Volozhin, to his son. It begins “My beloved son.” The letter has divrei torah on the she’hechiyanu of Tekiat Shofar on Rosh Hashanah, in which he mentions the Rambam, Shulchan Aruch, Pri Chadash and more. He lived 1817-1893, was the head of the Volozhin yeshiva and a sage of Eastern Europe in the 19th century. He was the eldest son of his family, HaRav Yaakov, who was a mercantilist and Talmid chacham in Mir. His father was related on his father’s side to Rabbi Elchanan of Berlin, of the Tosafot, and on his mother’s side to Rabbi Meir Eisenstaat, the compiler of the book of Questions and Answers Panim Me’irot. He studied in the Mir yeshiva until age 13 and a half, and then he was taken to Rabbi Yitzhak of Volozhin, head of the Volozhin yeshiva, where he married his daughter, Reina-Batya. When he father-in-law died in 1849, his first son-in-law, Rabbi Eliezer Yitzhak, was made head of the yeshiva and HaNatziv was his deputy. This son-in-law died at an early age, and in 1853 HaNatziv became the head of the yeshiva. His partner in running the yeshiva during that time was the father of the Brisk dynasty, Rabbi Yosef Dov bar Soloveitchik, “HaBeit HaLevi.” He was the father of Rabbi Haim Berlin and Rav Meir bar Ilan. 1 page, 8 lines handwritten and signed. Signs of folding. Stains. Generally very good condition.
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