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Judaica and Hasidic Books and Manuscripts

Lot 69:

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Historic 1964 Bibliographical Autograph Letter – Holocaust Rescue Hero Rabbi Dr. Moshe Carmilly-Weinberger to Rabbi Leonard C. Mishkin of Chicago

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Start price: £60

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Description

A highly valuable and unique piece of post-war transatlantic intellectual correspondence connecting two towering figures of 20th-century Jewish historiography and bibliophilia.

  • Overview: A formal typed letter featuring unique hand-inked corrections and a full signature by Rabbi Dr. Moshe Carmilly-Weinberger, written on his personal New York stationery and dated December 13, 1964.
  • The Trans-Denominational Scholarly Connection: The document captures an important collaborative moment between the former European Neolog Chief Rabbi and a prominent American Orthodox institutional leader. Rabbi Mishkin, a legendary book collector, reached out across ideological lines to track down a vanishing piece of Transylvanian Jewish printing history.
  • The Bibliographical Revelation: The correspondence centers on the search for the elusive Jubilee Book for Dr. Pinchas Levi (ספר היובל לכבוד דר. פנחס לוי), printed in Cluj (Klausenburg) in 1939 (תרצ"ט). Rabbi Carmilly makes a striking personal revelation: he confirms that he was the anonymous driving force behind the work, having compiled and published it under his pre-war birth name, Moshe Weinberger (משה ויינברגר).
  • The Library Search: Rabbi Carmilly details his exhaustive search through elite academic repositories. He notes that while the volume is absent from the main library of Yeshiva University (בספרית הישיבה אוניברסיטה איננו), where he served as a professor, he successfully located a solitary surviving copy within the walls of the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS/Schechter) library in New York.
  • The Sender: Rabbi Dr. Moshe Carmilly-Weinberger (משה כרמלי-ויינברגר; 1908–2010) served as the brilliant Chief Rabbi of Cluj, Transylvania, from 1934 to 1944. During the Holocaust, he acted as a fearless rescue operative, orchestrating underground escape routes that saved thousands of Jewish refugees by smuggling them into Romania. After the war, he immigrated to New York and became a revered Professor of Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University.
  • The Recipient: Rabbi Leonard (Leib) C. Mishkin (רבי לייב מישקין; 1907–1996) was a premiere Orthodox rabbinic leader, educator, and historian in Chicago, serving as a pillar of the Hebrew Theological College (Beis Midrash LaTorah). He was internationally renowned for amassing one of the largest and most comprehensive private collections of rare Judaica in the United States.

Condition report:

Status: Excellent Archival Condition.


Details: The single ivory-tone sheet is structurally flawless, showing sharp edges and its original horizontal mailing folds. The printed typography is deeply impressed and dark. The handwritten ink text corrections and the prominent legal signature of Moshe Carmilly-Weinberger are perfectly clear, bold, and entirely legible. Free of any stains or foxing.