Chofetz Chaim's Letter about his Emigration to Israel

Letter from Rabban of Israel Chafetz Chaim in his 1926 handwriting about his immigration to Eretz Israel 

and clarification of his home in Petah Tikv 

Background: The great dream and desire of the Chofetz

 Chaim was to rise and establish the ore of the Holy Land, and was full of longing and yearning to settle in it. Already in 1880 he conditioned himself on the conditions he had committed to his son-in-law, To immigrate to Eretz Israel, as he did with the rest of his sons-in-law, and so he made a stipulation in 1903 when he married his second wife, Mrs. Miriam Freida.

But his great concern and work for his yeshiva, and Torah institutions in the Diaspora, prevented him from fulfilling his ambition 

Nevertheless, after the establishment of the Vaad HaYeshivot, which the Chafetz Chaim saw as an economic anchor for yeshivot, he again turned to fulfilling his wish and immigrating to the Land of Israel. When it became known to the rabbis of Lithuania, a meeting was held at the home of Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, Av Beit Din of Vilna, and it was decided to ask the Chafetz Chaim to postpone his journey in order to strengthen the Vaad HaYeshivot. "And he indeed postponed his journey until the eleventh of Elul 5625, when he sent a farewell letter to his brother in the Diaspora and all his parcels were prepared for the journey, but again a delegation of yeshiva heads came to him, headed by Rabbi Baruch Ber Leibowitz, who wept in tears for a third At least until after Sukkot to help ensure the existence of the yeshivas, and the Chafetz Chaim,

At this stage of the attempts to ascend, the story enters the rare letter of the Chofetz Chaim, which was written before us on the 4th of Tishrei Vayeira [17 Cheshvan 5626], with a detailed description of the course of events and the reasons that prevented him from immigrating to Israel until now , And a request to clarify some important things for him.

"Here I was almost ready to go to the Holy Land" from the book of Rabbi Yisrael Meir HaCohen.  "And from heaven I became very weak in patients in complete danger, and we were forced to take her to the hospital in Vilna, and with God's grace you went out of danger, Delaying my path for the time being. '

Now the Chafetz Chaim wants to clarify several details: 

 If the house being built for him in Petah Tikva (see below) is completed or is in the middle of the construction. 

 What to do about an immigration permit whose validity will pass until his wife gets better. 

 The physical condition of Torah institutions in Petah Tikva. 

 Can they obtain a maid's name? 

 An application to inform him of the safety of his son-in-law Rabbi Aharon HaCohen.

The end of the story is known, later that year his wife (see the years of generation and generation, page 119), and again obtained new licenses, but on the same day his daughter fell ill, and after that his doctors advised him that the journey in his precarious state of health, Then the Chafetz Chaim completed and said that he saw that the heavenly sky was delaying his journey (see all of this in the book Ha-Chafetz Chaim and act for the Admor Yashar, 2b 1858-1817).

In addition to being a historical letter written and signed in the very holy handwriting of the saint of the High Priest, the Chofetz Chaim zt "l in a matter that was so close to his heart - to live in the shadow of the Holy Land and to serve God in peace and tranquility in a small settlement soaked in the sanctity of the Land of Israel, Is to hold it in the house, as written about the wishes of the recipient.

It turns out that this is one of the most important and important letters that are now known in the handwriting of Maor Yisroel Rabbeinu Yisrael Meir HaCohen of Radin, Chafetz Chaim and Mishnah Berurah.