Auction 48
Lot 115:
Letter on official letterhead of Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin, Av Beit Din of Slotzk, written while he was in Jerusalem. He testifies: “the great Rabbi Shmuel Aharon Shchderovitzky was certified for teaching by the sages of Poland and Lithuania and served in the rabbinate of Bialystock and I hereby know him as a great talmid chacham, a teacher for around 20 years. I hereby sign…” and he signs by hand and stamps it.
Folding creases, filing holes, stains. 13.5×21.5cm.
Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin (1880-1966) was the son of Rabbi Ben Zion. He was Zv Beit Din of Lotzk (Ukraine) before the Shoah, and he served as head of the Council of Torah Sages, a leader of the Vaad Yeshivat and the Chinuch Atzma’i. He won the Rav Kook Prize for Judaic Literature in 1952. He is described in the book Ohalei Shem: “This excellent rabbi had wonderful skills, and apart from his greatness in Torah he was also well-versed in the sciences, he passed exams in all subjects held at the Gymnasium, and he could be chosen as official rabbi of any town in Russia; he is also a wonderful darshan, a great thinker, and really draws in anyone who listens to him.”
Rabbi Shmuel Aharon Shatzdarovitzky (1907-1978) was the son of Rabbi Meir Shalom, the Admor of Kovrin-Bialystock, who was the son-in-law of Rabbi Menachem Nachum Epstein, founder of the Chassidic dynasty. Rabbi Shmuel Aharon married the daughter of Rabbi Pinchas Issachar, the Admor of Pinchov Sosnowitz. As a young avrech he was appointed secretary of the Agudat Yisrael in Vilna, and was close to Rabbi Haim Ozer Grodzinsky. During World War II he managed to escape and reached Israel in 1943. After arriving he joined with Agudas Yisrael in Israel and at the beginning of his career was a leader of the Tze’irei Agudas Yisrael. He also served as deputy leader of the Va’ad HaPoel of Agudas Yisrael in Israel, and as head of the Tel Aviv branch. His sons-in-law are Rabbi Yisrael Dan Taub of Mozhitz and Rabbi David Matityahu Rabinowitz of Bialy-Bnei Brak.
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