(Admor of Rachmastrivka, 1816-1895). Letter Signed, written in Hebrew to Rabbi Binyamin Zakheim of Ekaterinoslav (Dnipro, Ukraine).

R. Yochanan Twersky was the paternal grandson of Menachem Nochum Twersky of Chernobyl (1730-87) a disciple of the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid of Mezritch. In the 1880’s, during the reign of Czar Alexander III, life in the relatively young Jewish communities of “New Russia” to the north of the Black Sea was characterized, on one hand, by economic opportunity and relative wealth, but on the other hand, by increasing anti-Semitism and persecution. Travel could be dangerous, but the potential payoff of travel for business or fundraising was often worthwhile. In addition, because the communities were new, different groups of Maskilim, Mitnagdim, Hasidim, and others sought to make inroads in the local population. This letter exemplifies the complexity of the times. The writer, the first Rachmastrivka Rebbe, R. Yochanan Twersky, writes to the long-standing Mithnagdic rabbi of the New Russian city of Ekaterinoslav, R. Binyamin Zev Zakheim, regarding the plight of a Jewish traveler – and perhaps fundraiser – whose movements were being monitored and restricted.