Exciting Historical Item
Never Before Published!
Mussar Notebook written in Shanghai during the war years, containing talks by the
Mashgiach Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein
1942-1945
"They almost destroyed me on Earth, but I did not forsake your precepts." (Tehillim 119:87)
A remarkable notebook of 125 written pages, containing holy sayings and mussar teachings that the Mashgiach Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein delivered during his stay with the illustrious Mir Yeshiva in the Shanghai exile, between the years 1942-1945.
The writer is Rabbi Elchanan Yosef Hertzman who was among the foremost students of the yeshiva and close to the Mashgiach. His signature appears on the flyleaf.
The present notebook was written with literal mesirus nefesh (see more details below), and accompanied Rabbi Elchanan throughout his time in the Shanghai exile.
The notebook even survived the American bombings in 1945, which destroyed the building where Rabbi Elchanan lived!
Rabbi Elchanan wrote a sefer ‘The Miracle of Mir Yeshiva’s Rescue’ about his experiences in Shanghai (Jerusalem 1976). In it, he describes:
"In these difficult moments [of the Shanghai exile], the passion for learning and prayer in the yeshiva was at the highest peak the yeshiva had ever known.
There was no thought in anyone’s mind except for Torah, prayer and mussar.
We were all completely immersed in Torah and Yiras Shamayim without leaving any personal matter in our souls.
The yeshiva then resembled as if it were in the heavenly academy and not in this world." (p. 98)
Some of the talks were given in the yeshiva hall, and some were delivered only to individuals. At the beginning of most talks, important details appear about their place and time of delivery.
Some of the Mashgiach’s talks in Shanghai were printed in various places, but apparently they were taken from other manuscripts and not from this notebook. From a sample examination of several passages, it appears that this present notebook was never printed!
The Mashgiach Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein (1885-1974) was among the greatest mussar masters in recent generations and Mashgiach in the Mir and Ponevezh yeshivos. Regarding the miraculous rescue of the yeshiva during the Holocaust, the Mashgiach wrote: "The mouth and pen would not suffice to tell and write about the divine providence and miracles that Hashem did with us… Hashem performed countless miracles and wonders with us." (From his haskamah to the sefer ‘The Miracle of Rescue’)
Rabbi Elchanan describes the Mashgiach’s talks in Shanghai with these words: "In these critical moments, the Mashgiach succeeded in salvaging the spiritual situation with words of faith and encouragement, like burning torches that he expressed from his pure heart in his mussar talks… and he succeeded in elevating his hundreds of students to a level of complete devotion and sacrifice for Torah…" (p. 98)
The writer Rabbi Elchanan Yosef Herzman (1917-2009) was among the elite of the Mir Yeshiva and author of many mussar seforim. He was renowned for his sefer ‘The Miracle of Mir Yeshiva’s Rescue’, which has a fascinating haskamah from the Mashgiach. While still in Shanghai, he printed a mussar pamphlet called ‘Man’s Greatness’ (Shanghai 1945).
Shanghai, 1942-1945
Page Count: [125] handwritten pages, some in Yiddish and some in Hebrew. Size: 33.5 cm. Condition: Good, some stains. Beautiful new binding.
A Notebook of Mesirus Nefesh
In his sefer ‘The Miracle of Rescue’, Rabbi Elchanan Yosef describes at length the difficult conditions of the yeshiva students during the Shanghai exile:
For a considerable time during the exile, the yeshiva students lived in the Shanghai ghetto, and walked about 45 minutes each day to the yeshiva hall in the International Quarter. On their way to yeshiva, they passed by lepers and those afflicted with fever who were thrown on the roadsides due to the difficult situation in the area (ibid p. 120).
During that period, there was a mandatory blackout (window darkening), and due to the harsh weather – learning in the hall was literally ‘mesirus nefesh’!!
In summer, the weather there was so difficult that when writing any letter or note, they had to cover the written lines, except for the line being written, so the ink wouldn’t be ruined from the excess humidity and heat! (ibid p. 94)
