Captivating Autographed letter by Harav Yosef Zundel Salant regarding requesting forgiveness upon the grave of his childhood friend from Volozhin following an incident that occurred in the times of Harav Chaim of Volozhin.
“My Heart Grieves” – I Cannot Rest
Riveting handwritten letter by Hagaon Harav Yosef Zundel Salant revealing his extraordinary efforts to uphold the honor of his fellow man and his fear of having sinned against a fellow Jew that pursued him even a half-century later.
In the Lithuanian yeshivos of Volozhin, Telz and Slabodka, it was customary for bachurim to drink and become inebriated on Simchas Torah in order to sing and dance unfettered during Hakafos.
In this letter, Harav Zundel Salant recounts an episode that occurred one Simchas Torah during his years in Volozhin when the mashgiach and a group of bachurim became intoxicated, which resulted in commotion and disorderly behavior. This caused grief and distress to the venerable Rosh Yeshivah Harav Chaim Volozhin,
“Until I said, we must force [them] to stop, and so they did. I shamed him publicly, and we remained faithful friends afterward. Yet now, a doubt arose in my heart that perhaps I did not actually request forgiveness so he would forgive me with a complete heart, and for this my heart grieves, and my sighs are many. I cannot rest, even though I was instructed to do so [by Harav Chaim Volozhin], yet in my haste, I acted in a twisted manner, and I should have mitigated my words with appeasement and soft speech.”
In his letter, Harav Zundel relates that he already sent a letter via Harav Yaakov Berlin to his son the Netziv of Volozhin requesting that he appeal forforgiveness on his behalf. However, the mashgiach passed away in the meanwhile, and thus, he requests that ten men should visit his grave, “On my behalf—
Yosef Zundel ben Harav Binyamin z”l of Salant, born to the woman Pessa z”l, and to request forgiveness in my name, and to say before them, ‘I have sinned to the G-d of Israel….’”
Hagaon Harav Yosef Zundel Salant (1786-1865) was the prime disciple of Hagaon Harav Chaim of Volozhin and the next link in the chain of the Vilna Gaon’s Torah, thus earning the title ‘Third Mouth of the Gr”a.’ He relayed foundations of mussar to his own disciple Harav Yisrael Salanter who expressed that he, “Opened before him the gates of light and truth…He was the ladder stationed on the earth whose head reached to the heavens.”
Harav Zundel Salant’s son-in-law Harav Shmuel Salant, Rav of Yerushalayim, described him: “As great as he was in personal attributes, so he was great in Torah; and as great as his breadth was in the Revealed Torah, so was his comprehensive knowledge of the Hidden Torah. He was the greatest of the generation in Torah and character traits, yet in his awesome and wondrous humility, he concealed his greatness from others.”
Jerusalem, 1865. Page size: 10×13 cm. Light green paper with several minor holes. [Printed from here in Hatzaddik Rabbi Yosef Zundel Salant p. 29].
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