Rare WWI Rabbinic Charity Appeal Letter: J. Zolberg (Geneva) to Chief Rabbi Dr. Arthur Cohn of Basel (1918) – Regarding Rabbi Israel Chaim Citronbaum
Description
Sender: J. Zolberg (י. זולברג), a prominent Orthodox merchant and textile importer based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Recipient: The towering world leader of Orthodox Jewry, Rabbi Dr. Arthur (Asher Michael) Cohn (רבי אשר מיכאל כהן, 1862–1926), Chief Rabbi of Basel, Switzerland, and a foundational pioneer of the Agudath Israel movement.
Content & Textual Discoveries: Written at the height of WWI shortages on March 5, 1918 (כ"א אדר תרע"ח), this magnificent document is written in a beautiful cursive rabbinic hand (Ktav Rashi) on commercial letterhead.
Paragraph 1: Zolberg writes an impassioned appeal regarding the holy scholar Rabbi Israel Chaim Citronbaum (רבי ישראל חיים ציטרונבוים), who belongs to an aristocratic Galician rabbinic lineage (Yichus) from Rymanów. Amidst the catastrophic wartime conditions, he is heroically serving as the Mashgiach (ritual supervisor) of the local Geneva Mikveh entirely לשם מצוה (as a volunteer, without receiving any financial compensation).
Paragraph 2: Due to crushing wartime inflation and trade blocks, Rabbi Citronbaum can no longer support his family. Zolberg begs the Chief Rabbi to issue a formal rabbinic recommendation to the wealthy community of Basel to provide immediate financial relief, concluding: "ולמצוה גדולה יחשב זאת" (And this shall be considered a great Mitzvah).
Sign-off: The text concludes with a flourish of classic rabbinic honorifics: "ידידו המוקירו ומעריצו… המשתחוה אל הדכת"ה" (His friend who honors and admires him… who bows before the splendor of his holy Torah honor [הדר כבוד תורתו הקדושה]).
The Original Artifact Pin: This lot features an extraordinary, unique physical detail: an original 1918 metal pin securing a German-language legislative cutting from a contemporary newspaper directly to the top left of the letterhead. The clipping outlines the strict wartime restrictions placed on the trade of textile scrap and rags (Handel mit Lumpen). This perfectly explains the context—Rabbi Citronbaum was attempting to survive by trading textile scraps, a livelihood completely crushed by these new laws, forcing the community to step in.
Condition report:
Status: Exceptional Antique/Wartime Condition.
Details: The single-page lined sheet is physically complete and wonderfully preserved. It displays original horizontal mailing fold lines and two uniform punch holes at the left margin from its historic placement in the Chief Rabbi\'s archive. The original 1918 metal pin remains securely attached through the top left corner, holding the German printed clipping firmly in place. The handwritten rabbinic ink is incredibly strong, bold, dark, and 100% legible throughout.
