The inter-war period was the heyday of the Yeshivot in Eastern Europe, with many yeshivot such as Mir, Grodna, Telz, Slabodka, Kamenetiz and Chachmei Lublin attracting thousands of students and producing many notable graduates. While in the 19th century, the fear and danger of the Haskalah influence on the youth in the Yeshiva world was palpable, by the turn of the 20th century the world of the shtetl that the average yeshiva bachur in Eastern Europe resided in was more stabilized in the religious sense, with the allure of the Haskalah less appealing once the end results of assimilation and abandonments of Jewish tradition became apparent.
While enrollment in yeshivas in this era was at its highest level in history, financially the region was devastated as a result of WWI, and the financial situation of many of the Jewish communities was dire. With many families barely eking out an existence, there wasn’t enough going around locally to support the homegrown yeshivas, forcing the roshei yeshiva abroad for lengthy and exhausting trips. By the mid-1920s, you were more likely to meet a famed European rosh yeshiva in New York than in Warsaw, with nearly every yeshiva sending representatives as well as their leaders to America to fundraise for months or even years at a time.
A letter I obtained this week is from one such a time, when Rav Meir Shapiro (1887-1934), the famed Polish chassidic rabbi and rosh yeshiva, also known as the Lubliner Rav, was residing in America from August 25, 1926 thru Aug 31, 1927, to spearhead his efforts to found the now famed yeshiva, Chachmei Lublin. Rav Meir Shapiro visited nearly every major city in the U.S. with a Jewish population, as well as Canada. The letter was written on his American letterhead, noting his address of residence during his American period, at 673 Broadway, New York. At the top of the letterhead is an illustration of the yeshiva building, divided into wings: the Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva – and wings named for the great sages of Lublin of old, Maharshal, Maharsha and Maharam.
What I found most interesting about this letter that Rav Meir Shapiro also wrote down for himself many inscriptions. One side lists an outline for a sermon or shiur he was giving, with a brilliant array of sources jotted down in brevity, stringing together a concept and theme for his lecture. The other side of the page lists Hebrew names of donors, with the names of their mothers, presumably for him to recite prayers for their success. Near each name is noted the amount they donated to the cause. Indeed, the visit of R. Meir Shapiro was deemed a success, with over $70,000 collected during his stay.
