KAGAN, ISRAEL MEIR

Radin

23rd Adar I, 1924

(“Chafetz Chaim”). Autograph Letter Signed on letterhead stationery of “Israel Meir Hakohen, author ‘Chafetz Chaim’ and ‘Mishnah Berurah’” (Hebrew); and “Rabin I.M. Kagan, Radun” (Polish). Letter addressed to “Mr. Leon Asher Mil and Company,” thanking them for their donation of $88 and blessing them for supporting the Torah. At bottom, stamp of “Israel Meir Hakohen me-Radin”

R. Israel Meir Kagan (1838-1933) was universally acclaimed as the preeminent Halachic decisor and “tzaddik” of the generation. He is referred today as the “Chafetz Chaim” (“Seeker of Life”), after the title of his guide to the laws pertaining to “lashon ha-ra” or malicious gossip. His reputation as Halachist par-excellence rests on his work “Mishnah Berurah,” a running comentary to Shulchan Aruch, Section Orach Chaim. See Leo Jung ed., Jewish Leaders (1964), pp. 457-473.