"And it will be considered by me as if he has done this kindness for me!"
Letter of compassion and extraordinary love for fellow Jews from the Alexander Rebbe, author of Akeidas Yitzchak
An extraordinary letter signed by the Admor Rabbi Yitzchak Menachem of Alexander, author of ‘Akeidas Yitzchak’, leader of the Alexander Chassidus, one of the largest chassidic groups in the world before the Holocaust.
In the letter, the Rebbe pleads from the depths of his heart, full of love and compassion for every Jew, for assistance for one of the prominent and elderly chassidim, who is "in great distress and in need of mercy".
The Rebbe requests:
"To my beloved and dear friend, may he live long – I earnestly ask of him to stand by his side, to be for him a support and an aid in all that he may need, and it will be considered by me as if he has done this kindness for me!"
And he blesses him:
"And in this merit, may Hashem help him, and may there no longer be suffering or destruction in his home, but rather life and health, sounds of joy and gladness, and may he be inscribed for a Kesiva Vechasima Tova, for a year of life and blessing."
The
Admor Rabbi Yitzchak Menachem of Alexander Hy”d (1880-1942) was one of the great chassidic masters in prewar Poland, and author of ‘Akeidas Yitzchak’. In 1924, he was crowned Rebbe of Alexander which, at the time, was the second-largest chassidus in all of Poland.
Rabbi Yitzchak Menachem was a disciple of both his grandfather, the Admor Rabbi Yechiel of Alexander, founder and progenitor of the Alexander Chassidus, and his uncle the Yismach Yisrael. During World War Two, he was one of the privileged few to receive an immigration certificate to Eretz Yisrael, yet he nobly refused to abandon his chassidim in the inferno. He suffered hunger and privation for two years in the Warsaw Ghetto and was then deported to Treblinka where he perished while wrapped in the burial shrouds he had brought with him.
His Torah teachings were compiled in the sefer ‘Akeidas Yitzchak’, and stories of the wonders and miracles he brought about for barren women and for healing the sick, were compiled in the sefer ‘Ro’eh Ne’eman’.
The present letter is the exact letter printed in ‘Toldos HaYismach Yisrael’, Vol. 2, page 431.
Alexander, 1925. Holy handwritten signature of the Rebbe; body of the letter is written by a scribe. Official letterhead.
Size: 13 x 20.8 cm.
Condition: Good.
