Chilling: Letter of "Rabbinic Ordination" Handwritten by Rabbi Yissachar Shlomo Teichtahl During his Flight from ...

Chilling: Letter of "Rabbinic Ordination" Handwritten by Rabbi Yissachar Shlomo Teichtahl During his Flight from the Nazis

 --- May Hashem quickly take us out of darkness and into light ---

Lengthy and chilling letter of rabbinic ordination handwritten and signed by the wondrous gaon Rabbi Yissachar Shlomo Teichtahl. Written during the days he was fleeing the Nazis, while he was in Budapest as an illegal immigrant, Iyar, 1943. Rare and special historic certificate.

This 'ordination' was given to Rabbi Yehudah Dov Singer (later rabbi of Kiryat Shmuel), grandson of the writer's friend - Rabbi Moshe Shimon HaLevi, av beit din of Frauenkirchen. In the ordination, Rabbi Yissachar writes that he spoke with the recipient of the certificate "in learning." "And due to lack of spare time, I could not walk with him at length ..." despite this, he was very impressed with the scope of his knowledge, and as such he is responding favorably to his request for semichah, and granting him "Yoreh Yoreh Yadin Yadin." Rabbi Yissachar Shlomo concludes with warm blessings, one of which holds much significance - "May Hashem quickly take us out of darkness and into light [quickly, in our days, amen]."

Behind this almost ordinary-looking certificate is a tragic historic story. The writer lived and was active in Piestany, Slovakia. With the arrival of the Nazis to the place he fled to in Hungary, due to his lack of a residency permit, he had to flee from one hiding place to the next. After a while he heard a false rumor that deportation to Auschwitz had ceased, and he returned to Slovakia where he was caught and sent to Auschwitz. He was murdered in Shevat 1945, may his blood be avenged.

This certificate is a rare remnant of a rare gaon, written at the height of those terrible days, during the horrifying war, several months before he was murdered. In those harsh days, under a lot of mental strain, with rumors of the murder of every precious relative, running from one hideout to the next, Rabbi Yissachar took the time and interest to invest in a youth, to hear his novellae, to encourage him and to grant him ordination. This greatness of spirit can only be summed up in one sentence - "Had your Torah not been my delight, I would have perished in my suffering."

Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of the gaon Rabbi Yissachar Teichtahl.

[1] large leaf paper, 21x30 cm. Entirely in his hand and with his signature.

Moderate-fine condition. Fold marks with slight tears. Filing perforations.