Sacred Historic Letter from Rabbi Shmaryahu Gur-Aryeh to the Gaon Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld. 1929

Sacred Historic Letter from Rabbi Shmaryahu Gur-Aryeh to the Gaon Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld. 1929

"And the day he heard it on the ship ... [the Rayya"tz] developed kidney disease, and he remains ill to this day ..."

Rare sacred historic letter from the son-in-law of royalty, the gaon and Chassid Rabbi Shmaryahu Gur-Aryeh, eldest son-in-law of the Rayya"tz of Lubavitch. The letter was sent to the Mara D'Ara Yisrael, the gaon Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, av beit din of Jerusalem. New York, Elul, 1929.

Background to this letter: On the second day of Menachem-Av 1929, the Admo"r the Rayya"tz arrived for his historic first visit to the Land of Israel. Immediately upon his arrival in the Land, he set out for Jerusalem, and from there to the grave sites of tzaddikim across the Land. He also visited the old Chaba"d yishuv in Chevron, city of the patriarchs.

The Rebbe concluded his visit on the sixteenth of Menachem-Av, 1929. A ceremony took place in Tel-Aviv in advance of his departure. From there, 15 buses accompanied him to the train station in Lod, where about five hundred people gathered from all around the Land in a dedicated hall erected by the railway management for the Admo"r the Rayya"tz and those who accompanied him. The Admo"r the Rayya"tz rode in the train as far as the train station in Rechovot, together with a group of Chaba"d rabbis and elders. He left there on another train, departing from Rechovot for Egypt, on his way to a visit in the United States.

The 1929 pogroms, the topic of this historic letter, took place just one week after he left. The riots had been anticipated through Divine inspiration by the Rayya"tz during his visit, as written (in his letter from 28 Sivan 1939): "I see visions of grief in my heart, bloodstains hovering in the atmosphere of the Land of Israel, to the sorrow of the entire Jewish people. My heart shudders about this. May Hashem have mercy on His people and His Land, send us the righteous redeemer and gather our scattered people from the four corners of the Earth speedily in our days, amen."

In this letter, Rabbi Shmaryahu writes to Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld that the news of the pogroms caused the Rebbe, the heart of the Jewish people, to immediately develop kidney disease! "The news of the terrible Arab massacre of the students at the Chevron yeshivah was received by the Admo"r, the Rayya"tz while he was on the ship. And the day he heard it on the ship ... he became ill with kidney disease, and he remains ill to this day [26 Elul] ..."

Rabbi Shmaryahu also notes his great joy at the opportunity to meet Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld face-to-face, "when I saw before me the man whose entire being is involvement on behalf of the Jewish people, who devotes all his strength and time to save and strengthen religious Judaism."

He concludes his letter with a request to be updated about the situation in the Land of Israel, and for himself personally, and they have not yet managed to accomplish the work in the public sphere - but they will be in touch about these issues at a later time.

Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of the gaon Rabbi Shmaryahu Gur-Aryeh.

[1] leaf. 23x29 cm. Official stationery, high-quality. Typewritten. The final line is handwritten by Rabbi Gur-Aryeh, who also signed it.

Very fine condition. Filing perforations. Minimal aging stains.