Letter from the Gaon Rabbi Chaim Berlin and the Directors of the "Otzar HaChesed – Keren Shmuel" Fund, named ...

Letter from the Gaon Rabbi Chaim Berlin and the Directors of the "Otzar HaChesed – Keren Shmuel" Fund, named after Rabbi Shmuel Salant, to the philantrophist, Mrs. Nesha Manischewitz.

A request letter in Yiddish to the philantrophist Mrs. Nesha Manischewitz (wife of the famous benefactor Rabbi Dov Ber Manischewitz), asking her to invest in establishing an endowment in the "Otzar HaChesed – Keren Shmuel" Fund.

"Every member receives a membership certificate signed by the directors and the signature of our master, the great Gaon Rabbi Chaim Berlin."

At the bottom of the letter are three lines with the signature and seal of the famous Gaon Rabbi Chaim Berlin.

Signatories of the Fund's directors.

The first signatory is Rabbi Shlomo Gadol, the Chief Rabbi of Vornyany. He was one of the closest aides and assistants to the esteemed Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Charif of Vilna in all matters of Torah and Judaism in Russia. Later, he assisted Rabbi Chaim Berlin when he was already in Jerusalem. Even after Rabbi Shlomo Gadol's ascendingg to the holy land , the friendship and correspondence between them continued. When the question of the Chief Rabbi position in Jerusalem arose, as an assistant and substitute for the Chief Rabbi Rabbi Shmuel Salant, Rabbi Shlomo Gadol was the middle person in this matter according to Rabbi Salant's special request.

The renowned Gaon Rabbi Chaim Berlin (1809–1912), son of the esteemed Gaon the Netziv of Volozhin, was a towering genius in all aspects of Torah knowledge. He was one of the great rabbis and prominent figures of Lithuania and Jerusalem. He held important rabbinical positions in Russia, including Moscow, Kobrin, Volozhin, and Elisavetgrad. In Volozhin, he also served as Rosh Yeshiva alongside his father before the yeshiva was closed by the Russian authorities.

During his tenure in Moscow, he raised significant funds for the Volozhin Yeshiva, and with his help, a magnificent stone building was constructed to replace the previous wooden structure. With the ascension of Alexander III to the throne, pogroms, decrees, and expulsions against the Jews of Russia began. In 1882, an order was issued to expel the Jews from Moscow, and Rabbi Chaim was informed that he too would not be spared and would have to leave the city.

At that time, his wife, Rebecca, passed away. About a year after her death, Rabbi Chaim left Moscow and moved to the city of Biala Podlaska, which had a distinctly Hasidic character. In Biala Podlaska, he married Mrs. Tila, the daughter of the wealthy Isaac Isaac Schwarz of Mir. Isaac Schwarz was a Hasid of Kotsk and Gur, a scholar and a wealthy man (his son, Rabbi Noch Schwarz, was the father-in-law of the Rebbe of Gur, Rabbi Abraham Mordechai Alter, author of the Imrei Emet). In Biala, Rabbi Chaim refused to accept a rabbinical position despite offers. During this period, he wrote many Torah novelties and halachic questions and answers, and he grew close to Rabbi Eliezer David Rabinowitz-Tzemo, with whom he corresponded extensively. He spent five years in Biala until 1889 when his second wife passed away. He then left Biala and moved to Volozhin to help his father, the Netziv, in managing the yeshiva and carrying the financial burden.

In 1906, he left Russia and immigrated to Jerusalem, where he was appointed as one of the Chief Rabbis of the Ashkenazi communities. He was soon recognized for his status and authority as one of the great rabbis of the city. After the death of Rabbi Shmuel Salant in 1909, Rabbi Chaim Berlin remained in this position alone and devoted himself fully to its many needs. Additionally, he headed many charitable institutions in the city, and due to his dedication to them, Rabbi Chaim was respected by all the different circles in Jerusalem.

"Otzar HaChesed – Keren Shmuel" was created in honor and memory of Rabbi Shmuel Salant. The fund engaged in constructive assistance to people from both the old and new communities by providing interest-free loans to members of the middle class to build homes through affordable payments in the form of rent over 12 years.

For information about the fund and its managers, see: D.N. Brinker, Otzar HaChesed – Keren Shmuel, Jerusalem 1940.