Stirring Handwritten & Autographed Letter of Blessing by the Arugas Habosem of Chust
Kleinwardien, 1887
Warm letter of friendship, fully written and autographed by the holy hand of the Admor Rabbi Moshe Greenwald of Chust, patriarch of the glorious Pupa dynasty. The letter was written shortly after he was crowned Rav of the congregation in Kleinwardien, Hungary.
The Arugas Habosem sent this letter to Rabbi Eliezer Deitsch, author of Pri Hasadeh in response to the latter’s letter of congratulations upon his recent appointment.
“My heart rejoices, and my honor delights that my soul is precious in his eyes
To honor me with a blessing from the caverns of his heart.
And with an eager soul, I respond from the innermost depths of my heart,
That Hashem should elevate his honor and seat him upon the heights of the earth…
May his wellsprings gush forth in the streets…
May he merit teaching Torah and purity in Yisrael among the masses
And expanding the borders of sanctity infinitely.
May we merit glimpsing the ordination of the Elders in the [Beis Hamikdash]
And may our lot be among them, or at least among the students who sit at their feet
…A faithful friend, who honors and esteems him with heart and soul,
Ha[katan] Moshe son of Moreinu Harav Amram Gr[een]wa[ld] zt”l”
To the best of Zaidy’s knowledge, this letter was never printed!
The
Admor Rabbi Moshe Greenwald (1853-1910) was the prime disciple of the Ksav Sofer and one of the greatest Torah luminaries of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He was the brother of the Admor Rabbi Eliezer Dovid Greenwald of Satmar; father of the Admor Rabbi Yaakov Yechizkiyahu Greenwald; and grandfather of the Admor Vayechi Yosef of Pupa.
In addition to his duties as Rav of the illustrious kehillos in Pupa and Chust, he also served as a beloved Rosh Yeshivah to thousands of talmidim. In the present letter, he notes that he is busy “sating the thirst of holy flocks who gather around me, flock by flock, may Hashem add to them!”
As a youth, he basked in the holy presence of tzaddikim such as the Yitav Lev of Satmar and Divrei Yechezkel of Shinova.
Rabbi Eliezer Deitsch (1850-1916) served as Av Beis Din of Bonyhád and was revered as one of the prominent sages in Hungary. He received letters and questions from across the Jewish world and authored myriads of teshuvos. He was a disciple of Rabbi Yehuda Assad and Rabbi Menachem Eisenstadter, and served as the Rav of Hunfalu. In 1897, he was appointed Rav of Bonyhad where he founded a prominent yeshivah.
Both of the above Rabbanim were two of the greatest sages and Roshei Yeshivos of Hungary during their era. Many venerable Rabbanim during the Holocaust era numbered among their students.
Kleinwardien, 1887.
Size: 23.8 x 29 cm.
Entirely handwritten by the Arugas Habosem.
Condition: Good. Slight tears in the margins.
