Bidspirit auction | (HIRSCH, SAMSON RAPHAEL). JOHANNA HIRSCH

(HIRSCH, SAMSON RAPHAEL). JOHANNA HIRSCH Autograph Letter Signed, written in German to her (future) husband Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch . A delightful letter of courtship. 4 pages, one page with clean tear down middle. English translation accompanies the lot. Braunschweig, 10th July 1831.      PROVENANCE: By direct family descent from Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, to the consignor.     Johanna (Hanna) Hirsch (nee Juedel, 1805-82) conducted a warm and supportive married life alongside her husband for more than fifty years. See E.M. Klugman, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch [A Biography] (1996) pp. 52 and 345.      In this heartfelt letter to her betrothed, Johanna Juedel reveals an intimate side of R. Samson Raphael Hirsch as a committed and affectionate soul-mate. Johanna writes about her fears of the impending death of her mother Sarah (for whom their eldest daughter would be named) and attempts to take her mind off her concerns by confiding in Hirsch.     Johanna often waxes poetic as she discusses here topics ranging from serious, such as her faith in God, to trivial, asking the name of a young lady that the rabbi had earlier courted. She closes the letter: “Believe me, no-one on earth is more devoted to you than your Johanna who loves you above all expression.” The two would marry less than three months later, October 5th, 1831.     Revealing as this letter is of the depth of relationship between R. Hirsch and his wife, it is even more telling of Johanna herself, who worked tirelessly on behalf of German Orthodoxy but was content to place herself out of the public eye. R. Hirsch himself said of her: “All the stones that were cast at me, all the filth that was actually slung or threatened, all that she bore also” (Klugman, Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch p. 52).     The present letter is a glimpse behind the veil, a testament to the humanity behind the Rabbi and Rebbetzin giving further weight to their message of Torath Chaim, a Living Torah.