UncategorizedContemporary Era
שני מכתבי המלצה מראשי ישיבות בקרמנצוג, תר"פ 1920 - אחד מהם נשלח ל"חפץ חיים" ולחתנו
שני מכתבי המלצה מראשי ישיבות בקרמנצוג, תר"פ 1920 - אחד מהם נשלח ל"חפץ חיים" ולחתנו
* Letter of recommendation for the young man Binyamin Trachtman, who studied for two years at the yeshiva Sha'arei Torah in Kremenchug (Ukraine). In the handwriting and bearing the signature of the Rosh Meyeshiva, the Gaon Rabbi Shlomo Heiman. Elul 5680.
The renowned Gaon Rabbi Shlomo Heiman (c. 5650–5705), a student of the Radin Yeshiva and a disciple of Rabbi Baruch Ber Leibowitz at the Halusk Yeshiva. He served as Rosh Meyeshiva at Rabbi Baruch Ber's yeshiva when it was exiled during World War I from Slabodka to Kremenchug. He was subsequently summoned by his master the Chofetz Chaim to the Smilovitch Yeshiva, which was founded by Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman. After the Chofetz Chaim and his yeshivot returned to Lithuania, Rabbi Shlomo returned to teach Torah in Kremenchug [at the yeshiva of his brother-in-law Rabbi Eliezer Yitzchak Berman]. The document before us is an important and rare archival item from that obscure period in his biography. Upon returning to Lithuania, he was appointed in 5683 as Rosh Meyeshiva at the yeshiva of Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman in Baranovitch. He subsequently moved to Vilna and headed the Rameilles Yeshiva; in 5695 he went to head the Torah VaDa'at Yeshiva in the United States. His novellae were printed by the Gaon Rabbi Michal Yehuda Lipkowitz [who had been his student during the Rameilles period], in two volumes of Chiddushei Rabbi Shlomo.
* Letter of recommendation for the young man "the bearer of this letter," sent to Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Levinson, son-in-law of the Chofetz Chaim, from "his student." Kremenchug, [Elul 5680].
The letter is unsigned [apparently out of fear of the "evil eye" of the authorities]. It was written by hand on official letterhead (printed in Russian) of the rabbi and tzaddik Rabbi "Chaim Ber Gringras of Kremenchug" [one of the leading figures of Rabbi Baruch Ber's community in Kremenchug. He was the father-in-law of Rabbi Shlomo Harkavi, Rabbi Avraham Yaakov Gordon, Rabbi Baruch Yaakov Zmodzak, and of Rabbi David Rapoport, author of Mikdash David, who married his youngest daughter in 5691, following his father-in-law's passing in 5688]. The letter mentions that the young man studied at the yeshiva of the Gaon Rabbi Eliezer Yitzchak Berman in Kremenchug.
At the close of the letter, the author extends greetings to the entire family of his master and teacher, "and I send my regards to our master, the supreme and holy elder, his honor the holy teacher Rabbi Yisrael Meir, may he live long, the Kohen, may he be protected."
It is reasonable to conclude that the author is the Gaon and tzaddik Rabbi Shlomo Harkavi (c. 5650 – perished in the Holocaust), a devoted disciple of the Radin Yeshiva, who married in Kremenchug the eldest daughter of Rabbi Chaim Ber Gringras and taught Torah in Kremenchug. For approximately twenty years he served as the spiritual director of the Sha'ar HaTorah Yeshiva in Grodno of the Gaon Rabbi Shimon Shkop, and was considered one of the great figures of Mussar in the Lithuanian yeshivas.
Two letters, 21 cm. Condition good to fair, wear damage at folds and margins.
