Letter Handwritten and Signed by the Brothers-in-Law Rabbi Avraham Yoffen and Rabbi Yisrael Yaakov Lubchansky - ...

Letter Handwritten and Signed by the Brothers-in-Law Rabbi Avraham Yoffen and Rabbi Yisrael Yaakov Lubchansky - Regarding Their Mother-in-Law, Widow of the Alter of Novardok - Baranovich, 1934
Appeal letter for financial aid for the widow of the Alter of Novardok, handwritten and signed by her sons-in-law R. Avraham Yoffen and R. Yisrael Yaakov Lubchansky. Baranovich (Baranavichy), Iyar 1934.
Written on the official stationery of R. "Yisrael Yaakov Lubchansky, dean of the Ohel Torah yeshiva in Baranovich, son-in-law of R. Y. Horowitz".
The letter is addressed to R. Aharon Burack (who was responsible for transferring aid funds to the various yeshivot, from one of the aid organizations in the United States). R. Avraham Yoffen writes that while travelling through Baranovich, he found his pious mother-in-law to be very weak, and in need of financial assistance due to her medical state. He asks that a regular sum of money be sent on set dates to his brother-in-law R. Yisrael Yaakov Lubchansky, "since this is a matter of life and death". The letter lists the addresses via which the funds should be sent. At the end of the letter, R. Yisrael Yaakov adds a few words in his handwriting, with his full signature: "I agree to all the above, so says Yisrael Yaakov son of the late rabbi of this city".
This letter discloses that Rebbetzin Chaya Horowitz, widow of the Alter of Novardok - R. Yosef Yozel Horowitz (d. 1919), lived to an old age and in 1934, was living in Baranovich in the home of her daughter Rebbetzin Lubchansky.
R. Avraham Yoffen (1886-1970), son-in-law and close disciple of the Alter of Novardok. He headed the Beit Yosef-Novardok network of yeshivot for fifty years, and was one of leading Torah disseminators in his times. During WWI, R. Avraham wandered together with his father-in-law the Alter of Novardok further into Russia, where they continued establishing more and more yeshivot, all the while impassioning and drawing the youth to Torah and worship of G-d. When his father-in-law the Alter of Novardok passed away (Kislev 1919), R. Avraham was appointed dean of the yeshiva in Kiev (which comprised five branches), and from there he directed the entire network of yeshivot. In the early 1920s, when the Yevsektsiya began forbidding Torah study, R. Avraham sent a directive to all the branches, instructing them to risk their lives to continue disseminating Torah, in this time of religious persecution: "Not to obey, nor surrender". In summer 1921, he was imprisoned, tortured and interrogated, on charges of Torah dissemination. In 1922-1923, he directed a daring and dangerous operation, through which most of the Novardok students crossed the Russian border illegally into Poland. R. Avraham raised thousands of rubles for the success of the operation. In Poland, he established the Beit Yosef-Novardok network of yeshivot, numbering until 1939 seventy branches, which were attended in total by four thousand students. In the interwar years, he lived in Białystok, and headed the yeshiva he founded there. His most prominent disciple from the Białystok years was the Steipler. When WWII broke out, he transferred the yeshiva to Vilna. In 1941, he reached the United States, where he lived for some twenty years, establishing a yeshiva there as well. In 1964, he immigrated to Eretz Israel, spending his final years in Jerusalem. He authored Derech Eitan (on the Talmud) and HaMusar VehaDaat.
R. Yisrael Yaakov Lubchansky was a leading musar figure in his times. Born in Baranovich to his father, who served as rabbi of the town. He was one of the initial students in the yeshiva of R. Yozel Horowitz, the Alter of Novardok, and later became his son-in-law. Following his father’s passing, he served for a time as rabbi of Baranovich, a position he later handed over to his brother-in-law, R. David Weitzel. He headed the Tsaritsyn (Volgograd) and Kharkiv branches of the Novardok yeshiva. When he crossed the border to Poland, R. Elchanan Wasserman appointed him mashgiach of the Ohel Torah yeshiva in Baranovich. He was also the mainstay of the Beit Yosef-Novardok chain of yeshivot, founded by his father-in-law, the Alter of Novardok, and the profound, inspirational lectures which he delivered at alumni gatherings would be received with great love and respect. He would preach about striving to reach perfection, and absolute devotion to a life of Torah and refining one’s character traits. A most preeminent Torah figure of the generation, outstanding in Torah and noble traits, who combined piety with action. His worship of G-d was passionate. Exceptionally humble, he would conceal his holy practices in every way possible, though his righteousness and modesty became well known. During his tenure as rabbi of Baranovich, he would arise early to assist the beadle, and he was beloved and revered by every member of the community. When he would go on Erev Shabbat to remind the storekeepers to close their shops, they would all hurry to comply, so as not to cause him anguish even for a short moment. With the outbreak of WWII, he fled to Vilna with part of the Baranovich yeshiva. He was murdered by the Nazis in the Kaunas fortress in Tammuz 1941.
[1] leaf. Official stationery. 14X21.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Filing holes. Folding mark.