Letter from Rebbe Sinai Halberstam of Zhmigrod - Blessings for a Complete Recovery

Letter from Rebbe Sinai Halberstam of Zhmigrod - Blessings for a Complete Recovery
Letter from Rebbe Sinai Halberstam, Rabbi of Zhmigrod. "Wysowa - Medicinal Spa" (Wysowa-Zdrój, Poland), [ca. 1935]. The letter is addressed to a young man who requested a blessing for his father's recovery, and later sent a message that his father's condition was improving. The Rebbe blesses the father with a "complete recovery amongst other sick Jewish people, may he shortly be able to inform me of his good health, and I request of his dear son… not to delay in sending me good tidings". The letter was written by a scribe, but the last five lines were handwritten by the Rebbe, with his signature: "One who seeks his wellbeing wholeheartedly and with great love, and beseechs G-d for his speedy recovery and salvation, Sinai Halberstam". Rebbe Sinai Halberstam of Zhmigrod (1871-1941), son of Rebbe Baruch of Gorlitz (Gorlice) and grandson of R. Chaim of Sanz (Nowy Sącz), was named Sinai at the behest of his grandfather the Divrei Chaim (see sources quoted below for the reasons behind this name). Renowned as holy from birth, he conducted himself with extreme holiness, would awaken every night at midnight to study Zohar until the morning prayers, and earned the reputation of a wonder-worker. He served as rabbi of Gorlitz, Koloshitz (Kołaczyce) and Zhmigrod (Nowy Żmigród). From 1904, he became the Rebbe of Zhmigrod. A foremost Rebbe of the Sanz dynasty, he was a diligent Torah scholar and preacher, a pious man reputed for the scope of his prayers. Near the end of his life, he relocated to Kraków. His grandson R. Moshe Halberstam - later one of the rabbis of the Eidah HaChareidit Beit Din - travelled in his youth from Jerusalem to Kraków, to lay Tefillin in honor of his Bar-mitzva beside his grandfather, though unfortunately just then, WWII broke out. The grandson miraculously succeeded in returning to Eretz Israel, while the elderly grandfather escaped the Nazis to the Omsk forest, where he died of starvation. The family miraculously obtained a white cloth for his burial and even succeeded in laying a tombstone on his grave, but his writings were lost during the Holocaust. (Rabbeinu HaKadosh MiTzanz, II, p. 369; Meorei Galicia, II, p. 528). Postcard. 10.5X15 cm. Fair condition. Tears (repaired with acid-free tape). Open tears to corners. Postage stamps removed. Stamps of the Rebbe in Hebrew and Polish.