Shemittah Etrog Polemic – Kuntres Shalosh Teshuvot by Rebbe Yoel of Satmar / A Printed Poster and other Booklets

Shemittah Etrog Polemic – Kuntres Shalosh Teshuvot by Rebbe Yoel of Satmar / A Printed Poster and other Booklets

Collection of four printed items dealing with the validity of Shemittah Etrogim – a halachic polemic initiated by Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar against using Etrogim grown in Eretz Israel during the Shemittah year:

1. Printed poster, by the leadership of the Yitav Lev Satmar community in Brooklyn, informing their fellow Satmar Chassidim of the prohibition to use Etrogim of the Shemittah year from Eretz Israel: “At the command of the Rebbe… let no observant Jew use one of these Etrogim”. [Brooklyn], 26 Tishrei, 1951. [1] leaf. 28 cm.

2. Kuntres Shalosh Teshuvot by Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar. Brooklyn, New York: Twersky Brothers, 1953. First edition. At the beginning of the booklet is an introduction by the publisher, R. Efraim Yosef Dov Ashkenazi. Three responsa on Etrogim grown in Eretz Israel during the Shemittah year relying on Heter Mechirah. In this work, Rebbe Yoel of Satmar rules decisively that one shouldn't buy or recite a blessing over such an Etrog, and that one cannot fulfill one's obligation with it. [3]. 4-94 pages. Signatures of R. “Ben Tzion David Brief” on endpaper. Original binding.

3. Keshet Giborei Koach (booklet 34 of the Tzvi Chemed series), with Kuntres Shov Ashiv, by R. Tzvi Hirsch Friedman, Rabbi and Av Beit Din in Brooklyn. Brooklyn, New York: Committee for the Dissemination of the Manuscripts of the Tzvi Chemed, [1956]. In the present work, the author R. Tzvi Hirsch Friedman proves that it is prohibited to recite a blessing over Shemittah Etrogim, and cites what his teacher wrote in Kuntres Shalosh Teshuvot. This work was written in response to the book Torat HaSheviit (New York, 1955), authored by R. Elazar Kahanov, dean of Torah Vodaath yeshiva, which argues with the Satmar Rebbe’s decision, which had proven from poskim that Shemittah Etrogim are valid and that a blessing can be recited on them during the festival.

Handwritten dedication by author on front endpaper: “I learned much Torah… but more… from R. Yissachar Dov son of Shlomo” [R. Yissachar Dov Bergman, 1911-1984, who headed the Committee for the Dissemination of the Manuscripts of the Tzvi Chemed. The author, R. Tzvi Hirsch Friedman (1880-1969), son of R. Menashe Simchah, Av Beit Din of Sobrance. Disciple of the Arugat HaBosem of Khust and of the Kedushat Yom Tov of Sighet. Son-in-law of R. Ze’ev Wolf Citron, Av Beit Din of Dorog (Hajdúdorog); studied in his youth alongside Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar. Reached the United States in the 1930s, and printed dozens of sharp polemical booklets on various halachic topics]. [3], 4-96 pages. Original binding.

4. Milchemet Mitzvah, by R. Yitzchak Yechiel HaKohen Gross author of Igeret LaNevochim. Jerusalem: Chorev, 1959. In the present work, the author sharply attacks R. Elazar Kahanov’s objections in Torat HaSheviit (New York, 1955), and vindicates the Satmar Rebbe’s position forbidding reciting a blessing over Etrogim of the Shemittah year from Eretz Israel. [7], 6-51, [1] pages. New binding.

Total: 4 books, varying size and condition. Good general condition.

Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar (1887-1979) was the youngest son of Rebbe Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the Kedushat Yom Tov (1836-1904), and grandson of Rebbe Yekutiel Yehuda, the Yitav Lev (1808-1883), who both served as rabbis of Sighet (Sighetu Marmației) and were leaders of Chassidic Jewry in the Maramureș region. He was renowned from his youth as a leading Torah scholar of his generation, for his perspicacity and intellectual capacities, as well as for his holiness and outstanding purity. At a young age, he was appointed rabbi of Irshava. In 1925, he was appointed rabbi of Karoly (Carei; in place of R. Shaul Brach who went to serve as rabbi of Kashoi), and in 1934, of Satmar (Satu Mare). In all the places he served as rabbi, he also maintained a large yeshiva and Chassidic court. He stood at the helm of the faithful, uncompromising Orthodox Jewry in the Maramureș region. He was one of the founding pillars of the Torah world in the generation following the Holocaust. After surviving the Holocaust, he emigrated to the United States, where he established the Satmar Chassidic community. He served as president of the Eda HaCharedit in Jerusalem, and as leader of Orthodox Jewry in the United States and throughout the world. His writings were published in dozens of books: VaYoel Moshe, Responsa Divrei Yoel, Divrei Yoel on the Torah and more.