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Bidding Information
Lot #    18170
Auction End Date    6/12/2007 11:33:06 AM (mm/dd/yyyy)
          
Title Information
Title (English)    Letter by R. Elijah Guttmacher, Admor of Grodzisk
Title (Hebrew)    מכתב מהאדמו'ר מגריידיץ זצ'ל
Author    [Ms. - Hasidim]
City    Grodzisk
Publication Date    1873
          
Collection Information
Independent Item    This listing is an independent item not part of any collection
          
Description Information
Physical
Description		    [1] p., 168:140 mm., light age staining, laid down with loss of several letters, ink on paper, Ashkenazic script, signed and dated.
          
Detailed
Description		    Letter by R. Elijah b. Solomon Guttmacher (1795–1874), Admor of Grodzisk. Born in Borek, district of Posen, R. Guttmacher studied at various yeshivot, the most outstanding of which was that of R. Akiva Eger in Posen. He also studied Kabbalah and acquired a good knowledge of German and general subjects. From 1822 he was the rabbi of Pleschen, and from 1841 until his death he served as rabbi in Grodzisk Wielkopolski. His great erudition and his way of life, which was akin to that of the Hasidim in Eastern Europe, made his name famous in the Jewish world, and a stream of visitors made their pilgrimage to him, as to a hasidic rebbe, to obtain amulets for the cure of diseases and the solution of personal problems. In order to end this kind of veneration, he published a request asking people to refrain from approaching him on such matters; these appeals, however, were of no avail and he acquired the unsought position of the rebbe of West European Hasidim.

R. Guttmacher's inclination to mysticism and his preoccupation with problems affecting the Jews of his time led him to ponder the idea of redemption and its practical realization as a solution to the misery of the Jews. He was one of a small minority of rabbis who, despite their belief in the Messiah, did not think that the Jewish people should wait for the coming of redemption passively, but rather should do all in their power to hasten redemption by engaging in constructive work in Erez Israel.

R. Guttmacher left behind many works on talmudic and kabbalistic subjects, only a small portion of which have appeared in print (many of the manuscripts are stored in Jerusalem archives). Among his works are: novellae on the mishnayot and the Gemara contained in the Talmud edition published by Romm; Shenot Eliyahu (1879); linked to the study groups established in Jerusalem at his inspiration. Zafenat Pa'ne'ah (Brody 1875) devoted to the tales of Rabbah b. Hana as told in Bava Batra.

          
Reference
Description		    EJ
        
Associated Images
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Listing Classification
Period
19th Century:    Checked
  
Location
Russia-Poland:    Checked
  
Subject
Hasidic:    Checked
  
Characteristic
Language:    Hebrew
  
Manuscript Type
Letters:    Checked
  
Kind of Judaica