“Anyone striving to free a single agunah is as one who rebuilt the destroyed city of Jerusalem.” An emotional ...

“Anyone striving to free a single agunah is as one who rebuilt the destroyed city of Jerusalem.” An emotional letter handwritten and signed by Rabbi Avraham Gottlieb of Odobeşti, to Rabbi Tzadok Kohen, Av Beit Din of Paris. Tammuz 1901.

An emotional letter handwritten and signed by Rabbi Avraham Gottlieb of Odobeşti (Romania), from Rosh Chodesh Tammuz 1901, addressed to Rabbi Tzadok Kohen of Paris, on the release of an agunah. The rabbi summarizes the developments of the situation, how the husband traveled to another country with details of his various stops, until all contact was lost with him and he was presumed dead. The rabbi gives details which could be of benefit in identifying him. He also remarks that he read “many years ago in the book Ein Yitzhak of Kovna (Rabbi Yitzhak Elchanan Spector, Av Beit Din of Kovna)”, that “anyone striving to free a single agunah is as one who rebuilt the destroyed city of Jerusalem…” He later discusses halachic elements of releasing an agunah, and ends with blessings for the addressee. The letter continues on the back of the page. Size: 21x25cm. Tears in the margins with damage to text, tape on the back (mainly in the empty section), folding creases, overall good condition.

Receiver: Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen Kahan, Av Beit Din of Paris (1839-1905), studied in Metz and Paris. He served first as the Orthodox Rabbi of Paris, and in 1888 he was appointed the Chief Rabbi of France. He published many articles in “Knesset Chochmei Yisrael.”