A Rare Ledger With Dozens of Rabbinical Autographs – Includes Many Rare Autographs of American Rabbonim.

A Rare Ledger With Dozens of Rabbinical Autographs – Includes Many Rare Autographs of American Rabbonim.

A fascinating, rare ledger containing tens of autographs and letters of recommendation from the leading Rabbonim of Eretz Israel and America in the 1920s. It was given to Rabbi Meir Ohana of Teveriah, who served as an emissary for Kollel Ohr HaChaim of Jerusalem (named after the Ohr HaChaim). Not only does this ledger give us a strong historical perspective of the situation of the Old Yishuv, it also provides us with a rare glimpse of America’s most prominent Rabbonim of the time, many of whom are not widely known today. As such, this ledger might very well be an only source to autographs of major Torah personalities during the turn of the century. 

Amongst the autographs are also many Moroccan Sephardic Chachamim, including: R. Elisha Efriat, R. Shalom Mordechai Azulai, R. Messoud Bitton, R. Yoseph Shaloush, R. Eliyahu Lagimi, and many others. They were known as the “Chachmei HaMa’arvim” and are known for their saintliness and piety.

Also seen are autographs and letters from the following Rabbonim of Eretz Israel:

R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. 7 handwritten lines with his autograph and stamp. 

R. Kook (handwritten and signed by his secretary R. Menachem Ralbag). 

Kolel Ashkenazim of Teveriah and its members.

R. Yoel Ashkenazi of Teveriah (1882-1970). He was considered one of the most prominent Chassidim of Teveriah and was the grandson of the Yesod HaAvodah of Slonim. 10 handwritten lines with autograph and stamp.

The emissary then traveled to New York, where he was received warmly and was backed by all major Rabbonim of the time. Virtually all these autographs are very scarce and uncommon. 

R. Moshe Zevulun Margolies (1851-1936), also known as Ramaz. Perhaps the most influential Rabbinic personality of New York in the early 1900s. He served as the Rabbi of Cong. Kehillath Yeshurun of New York’s Upper East Side. The famed Ramaz school of New York was founded in 1937 in his memory. 

R. Avraham Aharon Yudelevitz (1850-1930), Rav HaKolel of Agudas Hakehilos of New York, and author of many Seforim. 

R. Bezael Rosen (1871-1929), member of Agudas HaRabbonim of New York. R. Rosen was born in Tarnipol and studied under the Minchas Chinuch in Tarnipol. Later on, he learned under the Kesav Sofer and received Semicha from him. 

R. Hillel Klein (1844-1926), disciple of the Kesav Sofer of Pressburg and son-in-law of R. Mendel Hirsch, grandson of R. Samson Refael Hirsch of Frankfurt. Upon his emigration to America, he served as a member of the Beis Din of the Rav Hakolel - R. Yaakov Yosef. 

R. Shlomo David Posner, Rav of Jersey City, NJ. 

R. Yitzchak Leib Epstein (-1938), a prominent Rav of several Kehillos in New York, and subsequently Rav in Toledo, Ohio. At the time he wrote this recommendation, he was serving as Rav of the “Seini and Vilna Shul” on 213 Henry St., New York. 

R. Moshe Chaim Rabinowitz (1854-1935), known as the “Gaon of Brownsville”. He was one of the senior Rabbanim of New York, and was held in high esteem by all. He was born in the town of Lubcha (Belarus) and was known as a great Torah scholar. In his youth, he studied with R. Yitzchak Elchanan Spector of Kovno, and R. Malkiel Tennenbaum, known as the Divrei Malkiel. At the time of his death he was perhaps one of the most famous Rabbonim of New York.

R. Yaakov Eskolsky (-1931), a member of Degel HaRabbonim, and Rav of several Shuls in New York, such as the Slutsker Shul and the Bialystoker Shul (where he served when writing his recommendation). Before emigrating to America, he attended the esteemed Kovno Kollel, which produced some of the finest Torah scholars of the day. 

R. Zvi Hirsch Dachowitz (1887-1953), a leading Torah scholar, Rav of Anshei Lubavitch, Brownsville. He was an alumnus of the Volozhin Yeshiva where he learned under R. Refael Shapiro of Volozhin, as well as the Radin Yeshiva, where he became a foremost disciple of the Chofetz Chaim. In 1922, on the advice of the Chofetz Chaim himself, he traveled to America to assist in various congregational matters. There, he gave a speech in the large synagogue of Agudas Achim Anshei Lubavitch in Brownsville, Brooklyn. They immediately offered him a rabbinical contract and he accepted the position, which he held for 32 years as their spiritual leader. R. Dachowitz was also crowned with the position of Vice President of the Agudas HaRabbonim of the U.S. and Canada, as well as that of Chairman of the Rabbinical Committee of Greater New York. R. Dachowitz was a staunch fighter for Orthodox matters in all his high positions in the rabbinical world. He was the first of the speakers on all the various committees. He moved worlds with his power of speech, and inflamed public opinion regarding desecration of the honor of Torah and belittlement of the importance of the rabbis.

R. Yaakov Ben Zion Mendelson-Morein (1875-1941), Chief Rabbi of Newark, NJ. During his youth – upon the advice of the Rashab of Lubavitch as well as his son the Rayatz, he studied with the Ragochover Gaon, and received Semicha from him. Shortly after his marriage he was drafted into the Russian army. He deserted, and changed his name from Morein to Mendelson, to make it harder for the authorities to identify him. In 1915 he emigrated to America. Two years later, he became Rav of Newark, NJ where he oversaw matters of Shechita and Kashrus until his death in 1941. Because of his close relationship to the Rashab and later the Rayatz, he served as vice-president of Agudas Chasidei Chabad Nusach Ari of USA and Canada.

R. Lieber Cohen (1874-1951), in his early years he served as Rav of Kozyn (a suburb of Kiev), until his emigration to America in 1911. He first became Rav in Memphis at the Adas Anshei Galicia Shul. After several years there, he moved to New York where he became a member of the Agudas HaRabanim. His Chidushei were published during his lifetime in Sefer “Chidushei Chaviva”. 

R. Shlomo Zalkeh Kanerek (1854-1931), originally from Galicia, where he served as Rabbi in Tarnow. In 1900 he emigrated to America, where he became head of Kollel Austreich.

R. Yehoshua Heschel Rabinowitz - Monastricher Rebbe of New York (1860-1938). He was appointed Rebbe at age 25 after his father’s death, at the behest of R. Yochanan of Rachmastrivka. Due to the rise of communism, he emigrated to America in 1923 and settled in Brownsville. Interestingly, the Skverer Rebbe of Boro Park was his nephew through marriage, as he was married to the daughter of the Monastricher’s brother, R. Pinchas of Kantekeziva.

R. Shlomo David Posner, Rav of Jersey City, NJ. 

R. Efraim Schneur (-1937), Rav of Kehillas Anshei Warsaw, New York. 

R. Yitzchak Segal, Rav of Agudas HaKehillos - Bayonne, NJ. 

R. Aharon Shlomo Bockstein (1870-1936), he served as the Maggid of Biyalistok before emigrating to America in 1906. Rav of Poalei Tzedek Shul, New York, and subsequently became Rav of Chevra Tehillim - Kesser Yisroel in Brownsville. 

R. Reuven Levovitz (1893-1965), a prominent Rav in the Brownsville section of New York. He was the brother-in-law of R. Moshe Feinstein and nephew of famed Mirrer Mashgiach R. Yeruchom Levovitz.

R. Chaim Yechiel Michel Bick of Mezritch (1888-1965), a renowned Rav and Posek in America, and was considered by many as a major Halachic Authority. The Satmar Rebbe held him in high regard, and visited him while sick in the hospital on three different occasions. He was the father of the late R. Moshe Bick, one of the leading Poskim in America.

R. Aharon Reuven Charny (-1970), Rabbi in Bayonne NJ for about 40 years. He was a prolific writer and speaker. 

In addition to these important handwritten letters and autographs, we are also privy to a handwritten letter of recommendation and autograph of legendary Cantor and Chazzan Yoselle Rosenblatt, who is renowned throughout the world till this very day. His personal autograph is exceptionally rare, and is rarely seen. Also seen is his personal stamp, where he is referred to as “the Chazan of New York”. 

[17] handwritten pages, many blanks; bound in original leather binding. 25cm. Click here for a detailed description.