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Rabbi Eliezer Silver letter

Document | Accession Number: 2014.504.1

One handwritten letter, in Hebrew, from Rabbi Eliezer Silver, writing in his capacity as president of Va'ad Hatzalah, to Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog, in Palestine, in spring 1946. In his letter, he describes news he has received about the destitute condition of many of the newly arrived Jewish refugees in Palestine, and proposes various actions in order to provide humanitarian aid for them, including the sending of funds to support such work. He also discusses negative rumors that had been spread about Va'ad Hatzalah's work there, and asks Herzog to intervene on their behalf.

Date
creation:  1946
Language
Hebrew
Genre/Form
Letter.
Extent
1 folder
Credit Line
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection. The acquisition of this collection was made possible by the Crown Family.

About This Document

Document Creator
Eliezer Silver
Biography
Rabbi Eliezer Silver (1882-1968) served as the president of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada, and was instrumental in the creation of the Vaad Hatzalah, an organization that sought to rescue Torah scholars and other persecuted Jews from Nazi occupied Europe. Born in Obeliai, Lithuania, he studied at Daugavpils, Latvia (when both places were part of the Russian Empire). Due to anti-Semitism in Russia, he immigrated to the United States in 1907, eventually serving as a rabbi in congregations in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (1907-1925) and Cincinnati, Ohio (1931-1968). He was elected president of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis in 1929, and was instrumental in founding Vaad Hatzalah, convening that organization's first meeting in New York in November 1939 and serving as its first president.

Keywords and Subjects

Administrative History

Holder of Originals
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Legal Status
Permanent Collection
Provenance
The collection was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2014.
Funding Note
The acquisition of this collection was made possible by the Crown Family.

Rights and Restrictions

Conditions on Access
There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
Conditions on Use
Material(s) in this collection may be protected by copyright and/or related rights. You do not require further permission from the Museum to use this material. The user is solely responsible for making a determination as to if and how the material may be used.

 
Record last modified: 2023-02-24 13:44:39
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn109819