Legendary Historical Document: The Most Famous Controversial Ruling of the Chazon Ish!
"Dear brothers! Eat on Wednesday and fast and afflict yourselves on Thursday — and pay no attention to anything else."
Bnei Brak, Erev Yom Kippur 1941.
An authentic and historical relic of great importance which stood at the center of a stormy halachic controversy that reverberated across the globe!
Presented here is the original text of the renowned telegram from the Chazon Ish to the Mir Yeshiva in Kobe, Japan, concerning the heated debate on the halachic International Dateline — written in the handwriting of his nephew, Rabbi Shmaryahu Greineman.
Toward the end of 1941, one of the most complex and weighty halachic questions of the last generations erupted: A large group of Mir Yeshiva students and other refugees had arrived in Kobe after escaping Nazi persecution. A pressing question arose — on which day should Yom Kippur be observed, on Wednesday or Thursday (October 1st or 2nd, 1941)?
Resolving this issue required determining the halachic position of the dateline, a matter whose roots reach back to the Rishonim but had never been definitively ruled upon. The yeshiva students urgently turned to the Rabbanim in Eretz Yisrael for a decisive ruling.
In a most uncharacteristic move, the Chazon Ish — known for avoiding issuing public rulings — entered the fray and, relying on the positions of the Rishonim, ruled decisively that Yom Kippur in Kobe should be observed on Thursday.
Despite the fact that many Rabbanim in Eretz Yisrael ruled that the fast should be on Wednesday, the Chazon Ish stood his ground with great resolve, almost entirely alone. He even authored an entire treatise on the subject, titled ‘Yud Ches Shaos’ (Eighteen Hours).
The Chazon Ish dispatched a telegram to Kobe stating unequivocally: "Fast and afflict yourselves on Thursday" and to ensure there would be no doubt, he explicitly instructed: "Eat on Wednesday (!!)" and concluded, "Do not concern yourselves with any other opinion!"
The telegram was sent urgently, shortly before Yom Kippur. The urgency stemmed from the Chazon Ish’s deep concern that some in Kobe might fast both days out of doubt — a scenario he considered a serious danger to life (safek pikuach nefesh).
This is the first and original version of that historic telegram, written at the time of the controversy by Rabbi Shmaryahu Greineman, the Chazon Ish’s nephew and confidante, who edited and published parts of his writings.
Due to the importance of this halachic dispute and the strength of the Chazon Ish’s stance, his ruling "Eat on Wednesday and fast on Thursday" became, without doubt, the most iconic psak ever issued by the Chazon Ish.
A one-of-a-kind item of unparalleled significance!
Description of the item: Two slips of paper: one bearing the Hebrew text of the telegram with a partial English translation; the other noting the recipient in Kobe — Rabbi Avraham Schwartz, a Mir Yeshiva student who later served as Mashgiach of Yeshivas Ohr Yisrael (d. 1968).
Bnei Brak, Erev Yom Kippur 1941
Approx. size: 20 x 8.5 cm.
Condition: Good; creases and minor stains.
Printed in Genazim V’Shu”t Chazon Ish (second edition). See also Igros Chazon Ish, vol. II, letter 167. For a comprehensive discussion of the controversy, see Miktzei Ha’aretz – The Dateline in Halacha, Bnei Brak 2019, pp. 25–39 (many sources are brought there).
