(Renowned Posek and Rosh Yeshivah of Kol Torah, 1910-95). Lengthy Autograph Letter Signed, written in Hebrew to Chief Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Chai Uziel of Tel Aviv.

AUERBACH, SHLOMO ZALMAN.

circa

Jerusalem

1935

Highly detailed treatise concerning the use of electricity on the Sabbath. Also discusses Halachic issues relating to a rechargeable hearing aid used by an elderly relative from Rabbi Auerbach’s family which R. Shlomo Zalman seems to allow to be turned off on the Sabbath.

Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach was world-renowned as one of Orthodoxy’s greatest halachic authorities - broadly acclaimed as a prolific author of responsa and halachic works, focusing especially upon medical and technological matters. Additionally, he was regarded among the most saintly personalities of his generation, the legacy of such piety drew an estimated 300,000 mourners to the streets of Jerusalem for his funeral. His first published work Meorei Esh (1935) is a most original presentation of the Halachic implications regarding the usage of electricity on the Sabbath and Festivals - indeed it was the first ever written on the subject. This lengthy letter between two of the 20th-century’s great Halachic minds commences with R. Auerbach praising R. Uziel’s seminal work, Mishpatei Uziel. Curiously this important responsa never appeared in Rabbi Auerbach’s Minchath Shlomo and has apparently remained unpublished.