Letter written at the height of WWI, by Rabbi Aryeh Leibush Kahane, Av Beit Din of Apahida and student of the Admor the Yeitev Lev of Sighet, addressed to Rabbi Chaim Brody, Rabbi of Prague.
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Since my son…Mar Moshe Kahane entered the army … and thank God he has never eaten any pigul or anything even possibly in the tiniest way forbidden chas v” – The letter writer requests that Rav Brody help his son, who was drafted into the army and who was in the environs surrounding Prague, with the provision of kosher food. He apologizes for approaching him for help, but he could not support his son because he had another son and son-in-law who were drafted, and he couldn’t support all three, “I have no more to give as a result of the paltriness of my income…and the small town and there are few people because everyone has gone to the army, as is known”. Sad testimony regarding the Jewish community during WWI, a period completely forgotten about in the aftermath of the Shoah, which made the period WWI pale in comparison.
Rabbi Aryeh Leibush Kahane (1865-1943) was the great grandson of the author of the Kuntres Sfeikus, grandson of the Mar’eh Yehezkel (the first Admor of Desh). He studied under the Admor Ma’agalei Tzedek of Desh and the Admor Yeitev Lev of Sighet. There are many stories about him from his period under the tutelage of the Ma’agalei Tzedek, including that he merited Eliyahu revealing himself to him. He served in the rabbinate of Apahida and many went on pilgrimage to him.
