The Fourteen Letters, written 70 years ago by the influential Rabbi Avraham Isaya Karelitz, widely known as “Hazon Ish”, was donated to the National Library of Israel by the family of the late Rabbi Zvi Yehuda, one of his former students. to which letters are addressed.
Karelitz, who was an opponent of the Zionist movement, was born in Belarus and moved to Israel in 1933, where he influenced countless Jewish leaders, both religious and secular, including David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister.
One of the letters, written to Rabbi Yehuda after his decision to receive a secular education and enlist in the Israeli army, read: “I am enriched by love for others, especially towards you, a young man armed with talent. and have a wiser heart… but when I recently noticed a sudden change in you… I had to wait and process my great pain.”
Rabbi Yehuda’s family said that the highly personal letters “represent a bond between two remarkable individuals; an unlikely teacher-student pair. We invite laymen and scholars alike to access the letters, and teachers , learn about the student and their special relationship.”
Hazon Ish letter. National Library of Israel, Jerusalem. (credit: Credit/National Library of Israel)