Ropshitz Dynasty: Oath proclaiming the fallacy of the blood libel. (Written in the aftermath of the Kishinev riots.) Handwritten signature of Admor Rabbi Naftali Horowitz of Mielec.
In 1903 anti-Semitic riots broke out in Kishinev following an article published by the Bessarabian, a popular newspaper in Kishinev. The report accused the local Jewish community of murdering a Ukrainian youth to use his blood for Matzos.
In the wake of these false accusations, the Rabbi of Mielec published this oath decrying the myth perpetuated by the gentiles. (There was also a large Rabbinical meeting in Cracow in 1903 regarding this matter, see Yad Ra’em pg. 11)
In this letter, Rabbi Horowitz swears that the blood libel is a despicable falsehood about the Jews. He signs the oath Rabbi Naftali Horowitz ABD Mielec.
“I, the undersigned, hereby swear in the sanctity of our Bible that is written in the Torah scroll that the despicable libel that is plotted against my fellow Jewish brethren in every generation [regarding] killing a non-Jew to use his blood for the purpose of our religious practice, is false…”
Rabbi Naftali Horowitz of Mielec (1845 – 1916)
Known as the “Kedushas Naftali, was the great-grandson of Rabbi Naftali of Ropshitz, a disciple of the Divrei Chaim of Sanz and of the Yehudi HaTov of Neustadt. He was the son-in-law of Rabbi Nosson Meir Halberstam, son of the Divrei Chaim’s first marriage. In 1879, he succeeded his father’s position as Rabbi and Admor of Mielec. Known as an outstanding Torah scholar and leading Admor, Rabbi Naftali was called "melech Yisrael" (King of Yisrael). He merited to establish a royal dynasty of prominent admorim and scholars. Some of his illustrious descendants include the Halberstam admorim, the admorim of the Sanz and Sassov Chassidus, and others. He authored Kedushas Naftali.
2 pages | 16 x 24 cm | Rare
