Auction 65
Lot 52:
Sharp polemic letter, signed by the rabbis of the Eidah haChareidit, the Gaon Rabbi Mordechai Leib Rubin and Rabbi Yitzchak Frankel, supporting the struggle of the zealots of Jerusalem. The letter refers to Rabbi Moshe Semnitzer and Rabbi Yosef Hoffman, against the Chief Rabbinate headed by Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Hacohen Kook. A painful relic of the disputes that split the religious Jews of Jerusalem and left them scarred.
On the letter, Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld wrote: "באתי על החתום עם שני הרבנים מהבד"ץ, ופשיטא שעשיתם כהוגן לפרסם המעשה כאשר הוא וכן לא יעשה, כי אין לנו תורה חדשה חלילה וכנראה שדנו אותם לפי שיטתם… השי"ת ברחמיו ישים בליבם לשוב בתשובה שלמה ולאסירים פקח כוח… המחכה לישועה קרובה שיתמו חטאים ולא חוטאים מן הארץ. הק’ יוסף חיים זוננפעלד" Apparently, the dispute died down shortly after the writing of this letter. Its content, however, was never published!
Background: Rabbi Moshe Semnitzer and Rabbi Yosef Hoffman, two of the greatest zealots of Jerusalem, were apparently those who in 1926 were behind the publishing of the Kol Gadol booklet against the Chief Rabbinate headed by Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Hacohen Kook. The booklet contained harsh and blatant words and caused a storm in the Yishuv. The members of the Zionist Federation filed a complaint with the British authorities against the two and they were arrested. The zealots in response sued Rabbi Kook as leverage for their release. Following the disregard of the suit, this letter was written by the members of the Badatz, to approve a ban against them as leverage, which to the best of our knowledge never happened.
Fold lines and filing perforations. 29X23 cm. Good overall condition.
Measurement: 23 x 29 CM
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