Leaf with chiddushei Torah handwritten in the cramped style of Rabbi Eliyahu Gutmacher, Av Beit Din of Greiditz. Addressed to the “Bachur Muflag Hillel of Jerusalem, son of Rabbi Shachna of Arenswortba.” In answer to his question where the minhag mehadrin of using an 8-wrapped string in tzitzit. He explains the ta’am and the origin of the minhag. Size: 17x17cm. Stains, light tears, overall good condition.
Rabbi Eliyahu Gutmacher (1796-1875) was the son of Rabbi Shlomo, a student of Rabbi Akiva Eiger. He was a leader of those fighting the Reform movement and was a father of the Religious Zionist movement, and one of the first to call for the agricultural settlement of Israel in the 19th century.
Following his rabbi he began to work on Torah mysticism as well, and under the influence of the kabbalah he approached the Chassidic movement and was influenced by its literature. In 1822 he was appointed Rabbi in Polshan and established a large yeshiva there. But the reverence to him reached its peak in his second rabbinical position in Greiditz, near the Polish border, where he moved in 1839. There multitudes came to ask his advice, blessings, and remedies, and he became a kind of Admor of Germany, even though that idea wasn’t accepted. The kibbutz Sde Eliyahu was established in his memory, and there are streets named after him across Israel.
His works: a commentary on the Talmud and the Mishna, Shut Rabbi Eliyahu Gutmacher, Tzafnat Pane’ach (exegesis on agadot of Bava Batra), Sukkat Shalom (on mourning), Shalom baFamilia shel Ma’alah.
In 1990 a book was published with ma’amarim and letters from him on strengthening one’s belief and the law of Yishuv Eretz Yisrael called “Michtav MiEliyahu.” A book of his drashot on the Torah is also being prepared for publication by Machon Yerushalayim.
