On the occasion of the yartzeit of Eliezer Kramer (5th of Iyar) and his wife Rochel Elka Kramer (22nd of Iyar) Rabbi Shalom Ber Schapiro, of the Nissan Mindel Archives, is presenting a letter of condolence which the Rebbe sent to the Kramer family on the Yartzeit. May their souls continue to go from strength to strength and always on the ascent.
A glimpse into the Early Years of Chabad in America
The Kramer family played a crucial role in the rescue of the Frierdiker Rebbe from Europe during W.W.II and in the establishment of Chabad in America as we know it today – with their generous and consistent support from the late 1930’s through the 1950’s.
They were part of a nucleus of loyal Chabad supporters which included the well-known industrialist Yehudah Stulman, among others.
In recognition of and with gratitude to the Kramers, the Rebbe maintained a supportive connection with them, as can be seen from his correspondence with the family.
We share here a letter which the Rebbe sent to the Kramers on the occasion of the yartzeit of the scions of the family – Eliezer and Rochel Elka.
The Development of a Letter…
This letter of condolence was written both in Yiddish and in English – which we show here in its various stages of development.
It is interesting to note that the same exact letter was written in Yiddish (a) in its rough draft with many notations and corrections of the Rebbe & then, (b) in its final draft, which includes all these notations and corrections. In addition, this same letter, translated into English (c) in its rough draft with a number of notations and corrections of the Rebbe and then (d) in its final draft with all the notations and corrections included.
It was not usual for the Rebbe to write the same letter in two different languages to the same recipient.
The stages of the letters presented here clearly show the process used in all of the Rebbe’s correspondence – whether the אגרות קודש /Igros Kodesh (Hebrew and Yiddish) or all the collections of the English or Russian letters. The Rebbe would dictate in Yiddish to his personal secretary, Rabbi Nissan Mindel, all the answers to the letters sent to him by mail.
At the end of each dictation, the Rebbe indicated which of the four languages they were to be written in. The secretary would then compose and type the letter in the designated language (Russian he would write by hand) and bring it to the Rebbe for his signature. The Rebbe would carefully read through each letter and if need be, make corrections.
If the corrections were minor, the Rebbe signed the letter and it would then be mailed out. If the corrections were more lengthy, the secretary would retype the letter with the corrections and bring it to the Rebbe for his signature. The Rebbe instructed that Rabbi Mindel keep a carbon copy of each letter, which he meticulously did and preserved in his archives, which contain all letters from over forty years of the Rebbe’s leadership.
For more in the process behind the Rebbe’s letters, click here.
Amazing
We’re enjoying these treasures
Thank you col
And of course Rabbi Schapiro
We need these to continue on
kol hakavod col pls share more
Thank you for Sharing uncle Sholom Ber Schapiro:-)
The Kramer support of Lubavitch began in the early 1920s. In fact, the first chairman of Aguch was the patriarch of the family. I think you are misusing the word scion.
A friend