Rabbi Eliezer Silver letter

Identifier
irn109819
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2014.504.1
Dates
1 Jan 1946 - 31 Dec 1946
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Hebrew
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

folder

1

Creator(s)

Biographical History

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.

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection. The acquisition of this collection was made possible by the Crown Family.

Funding Note: The acquisition of this collection was made possible by the Crown Family.

The collection was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2014.

Scope and Content

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.

People

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.