Letter by Rebbetzin Rasha Leah Karelitz and her Son Rabbi Yitzchak Zundel Karelitz, Rabbi of Kosava - Kosava, 1926

Letter by Rebbetzin Rasha Leah Karelitz and her Son Rabbi Yitzchak Zundel Karelitz, Rabbi of Kosava - Kosava, 1926
A letter (in Yiddish) handwritten and signed by Rebbetzin "Rasha Karelitz". Kosava, Iyar 1926. Three lines (in Hebrew) handwritten and signed by her son R. "Yitzchak Zundel" [R. Itzele Karelitz, rabbi in Kosava], were added at the end.
The letter was written to her children in Vilna ("My dear children") and contains blessings on the occasion of the circumcision of one of her grandchildren.
R. Yitzchak Zundel (R. Itzele) Karelitz (ca. 1881-1942), a glorious Torah figure from Lithuania, Rabbi of Kosava and head of the yeshiva in the city. A holy, lofty Torah scholar, his name was celebrated throughout Lithuania for his greatness and piety. Ill and all in need knocked on his door seeking his blessing and council. After his father's death, R. Itzele Karelitz was appointed by the Kosava community as their rabbi, but he conceded the position in favor of his brother-in-law R. Abba Swiatycki, assisting R. Abba in all rabbinical matters. Unofficially, all the town's issues were determined according to R. Itzele's opinion. The Kosava community revered him and were fiercely attached to him describing him as an "Angel of G-d". Many youths in the city studied in yeshivas due to his influence, drawn to R. Itzele's shining personality. The Kosava community, men, women and children were murdered during the Holocaust on Shabbat the 11th of Av 1942, together with their beloved and esteemed rabbi, living and dying sanctifying G-d's Name [R. Itzele was wont to say that "A Jew is obligated to make Kiddush not only on Shabbat, but every day - 'Kiddush Hashem'…"].
Rebbetzin Rasha-Leah Karelitz (ca. 1854-1940), daughter of R. Shaul Katzenelbogen, Rabbi of Kosava and Kobryn. In 1874, she married R. Shemarya Yosef Karelitz (1852-1916), who in 1882 succeeded his father-in-law as Rabbi of Kosava (near Grodno) after the latter progressed to the Kobryn rabbinate. She was celebrated for her piety and modesty and merited seeing all her nine sons and sons-in-law become famed Torah scholars and G-d fearing individuals. Among them: R. Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz, author of the Chazon Ish; R. Meir Karelitz, Rabbi of Lachowicze and one of the heads of Mo'etzet Gedolei HaTorah; R. Abba Swiatycki, Rabbi of Kosava and Tykocin (Tiktin); and Rabbi Ya'akov Yisrael Kanievsky, author of Kehillot Ya'akov (the Steipler). Once, the Chafetz Chaim asked her how she merited such pious children to which she responded: Perhaps because I conducted myself with excessive modesty and the beams of my home never saw the hairs of my head. Reputedly, she fell ill soon after her marriage and the doctors warned her that giving birth may risk her life. Her father, R. Shaul, suggested that his son-in-law divorce her to enable him to have children but Rebbetzin Rasha-Leah heroically decided to bear children saying that G-d created her for this purpose and He will have mercy (HaChazon Ish B'Dorotav, p. 17).
During WWI her husband died and in her senior years, she made aliya to Eretz Israel and for several years lived in Bnei Brak near her son the Chazon Ish and near her daughter, the Steipler's wife, seeing firsthand the great stature of both her son and son-in-law.
Postcard, 10X14.5 cm. Good condition. Light wear.