Bidspirit auction | (LUBAVITCH). (MOISHE ELIEZER KRAMER). The

(LUBAVITCH). (MOISHE ELIEZER KRAMER). The Life of Morris L. Kramer. A Biographical Sketch of a Jewish Scholar and Businessman. Compiled and Arranged by a group of his Friends and Admirers. Text in English (pp. 138) and Yiddish (pp. 130) with photographic plates and facsimiles of letters. Original boards. 8vo. New York, Pinski - Massel, 1926. * ACCOMPANIED BY: Archive of papers, mostly stemming from Attorney Sam Kramer, relating to the above biography (pre- and post-publication) c. 55 pages; as well as dozens of typed and autographed letters of condolence written to Kramer and his family upon the passing of his father in 1925, c. 65 pages. With the original folder in which these papers were stored, containing written information from Kramer or his staff that may be useful in reconstructing provenance. etc. New York, c. 1924-26.     Biography written in Yiddish by Jacob Mark and translated into English by Harold Berman of:            Moshe Eliezer (Morris L.) Kramer (1864-1925). ”FEW NAMES CARRY MORE SIGNIFICANCE IN THE STORY OF THE LUBAVITCH MOVEMENT IN THE 20TH CENTURY THAN THAT OF THE KRAMER FAMILY.”     “Incorporated in 1924 as the umbrella organization for the Chabad movement in the United States, Morris L. (Moshe Eliezer) Kramer was he first president of Agudas Chassidei Chabad of the United States and Canada. Subsequently his sons remained dedicated and energetic supporter of the sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn.     Successful American Jews, the Kramer family’s roots in Lubavitch ran deep. In the old country, Moshe Eliezer’s father had been a scholar and prominent citizen of the shtetl of Kurenitz, then in the region of Vilna. “He would make frequent pilgrimages to the Rebbi of Liubawitsch [sic]” notes the 1926 biography of Morris Kramer, “first to Reb Mendele [Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch, known as the Tzemach Tzedek (1789-1866)], and later to his successor Reb Shmulke [Rabbi Shmuel, the Rebbe Maharash (1834-1882)], and on these occasions would give generously of his means to all worthy causes.”     Czarist Russia’s infamous 1882 May Laws forbade Jews living within the Pale of Settlement from settling in villages unless they had previously lived there, making it nearly impossible for Morris to reside near his parents once he was married. In 1895 he struck out alone for America, leaving behind his wife, Rochel Elka, and six children. Fortunately, Morris took to Di Goldine Medina almost immediately. Morris’ family followed him to the United States in 1899, and by 1906 he was doing so well financially he buildt a synagogue behind his new home in Bath Beach, Brooklyn, where he could pray Nusach Ari, the Chabad prayer liturgy compiled by the movement’s founder, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi.     As Kramer’s pants business, M.L. Kramer & Sons, grew, Morris became known as a generous philanthropist. He was also a scholar in his own right, rising early each morning to study Talmud with a group of businessmen and workers. It took them ten years to finish the entire Talmud, and just six months before Morris passed away they celebrated a Siyum HaShas on the 19th of Kislev, 1924, at the Tzemach Tzedek Nusach Ho’ari Synagogue on Henry Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a grand event attended by hundreds of rabbis and lay leaders of New York’s Jewish community.     The Tzemach Tzedek synagogue on the Lower East Side, of which Morris served as president for a time, was one of hundreds of Lubavitch-affiliated synagogues in the United States, all of which were disconnected from one another. The fifth Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom DovBer of Lubavitch, passed away in the spring of 1920, and was succeeded by his only son, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak. Not long thereafter Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak wrote to his followers in America directing them to formally organize the disparate Chabad congregations spread throughout the country.     At the Rebbe’s direction, Rabbi Eliyahu Simpson, Rabbi Dovid Schifrin, and Morris Kramer started what was initially called Agudas HaChasidim Anshei Chabad of the United States and Canada, which was later shortened to Agudas Chassidei Chabad of the United States and Canada, incorporated in New York State in July of 1924. Kramer became its first president.     “Among Agudas Chassidei Chabad’s achievements during this time was developing the network of Nusach Ari synagogues in America, supporting the Lubavitch organizations and community in Russia and Eretz Israel. Chabad’s first offices were in Morris Kramer’s clothing factory at 643 Broadway, New York City.     “I thank you very much, my dear friend, for occupying yourself so much with our affairs, which you do well to consider as your very own, ” Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak wrote to Morris in Yiddish from Leningrad in January of 1925. “It is true beyond a doubt that we are all seeking the identical aims.” (Facsimile of letter included in biography here).