Handwritten & Autographed letter by the
Admor of Skulen
Rabbi Eliezer Zusia Portugal
Bucharest, 1951
“I am humbled by all the kindnesses that Hashem Yisboach did for me, for He has performed great kindnesses for me.”
This letter, written to one of the many pupils whom he devotedly raised as his own, was inscribed several years after the Holocaust and is replete with praises and thanks to Hashem for the miracle of his survival.
The Admor Rabbi Eliezer Zusia Portugal of Skulen (1898-1982) was a distinguished Torah luminary who was a genius in both Shas and halachah. He was closely affiliated with the Admors of Ruzhin and served as Rav in Skulen, Romania from the age of 17 and became known as the Skulner rebbi. Years later, he was asked by Agudas Yere’im to move to Chernowitz, where he founded his famous beis medrash and endeavored greatly on behalf of Romanian Jewry, specifically war refugees. His destitute home was open to all, and he took from his own mouth to feed destitute children and marry them off to established families.
In 1960, he emigrated from Romania to the United States where he founded the legendary Chesed L’Avraham Institutions, which were dedicated to the rescue of Jewish refugee children from Romania, Transylvania, Bukovina, and Marmarush.
This letter is an excellent example of the Adomr’s loving, compassionate care of the children whom he took under his wing to raise and educate as a father after the Holocaust.
Bucharest, 1951. Double-sided leaf. Page size: 21×14.
