Discovery: An Unknown Historical Announcement from the Chofetz Chaim!
A printed letter from Manhig Hador, Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan of Radin, which he wrote in preparation for the renowned ‘St. Petersburg Conference’.
In the year 1910, a historic gathering of rabbis convened in St. Petersburg for the first time, at the government’s command, to discuss the pressing needs of Judaism. In each district, communities were required to select a rabbi-representative to be sent to the assembly, and the giants of the generation were concerned that individuals who do not follow Torah thought would be chosen.
In this historic and passionate announcement, the revered Chofetz Chaim expresses his opinion – the opinion of the Torah – emphatically, urging that only truly great Torah scholars be elected due to the importance of the matter for the future of Judaism, and in his own words:
"It is a great obligation to strengthen the Yire’i Hashem… to choose only selected Yere’im individuals… and do not belittle this matter in your eyes, for it concerns all of Israel… and this is not a question of economy, but rather of religious matters, and it pertains only to well-known giants of Israel, wise individuals Yirei Hashem, to choose and send them."
To the best of our knowledge, this historical document is completely unknown!
It is not mentioned in the writings of the Chofetz Chaim, in collections of his works, or in books written about him, nor is it found in a special section on the St. Petersburg Conference in the book
Chofetz Chaim: His Life and Work by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Yoshor. It is also not listed in major bibliographic databases, and its content is not found in book or newspaper databases.
Letters on the same subject were also authored by Rabbi Shalom Dovber of Lubavitch, Rabbi David Friedman of Karlin, as well as Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski and Rabbi Chaim of Brisk in a joint letter – all of these letters were published in various editions of ‘Havatzelet’, yet the letter from the Chofetz Chaim was never published in any edition!
Circa November, 1909. Good condition. 22.5X29.5 cm.
In the third line, there is a correction written by hand, possibly in the handwriting of the Chofetz Chaim.
