(Founder of Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva and the Daf HaYomi System, 1887-1937). Typed Letter Signed written in Hebrew to “Mr. H. Herzberg.”

SHAPIRO, MEIR

18th Menachem-Av

New York

1927

An invitation from the American Committee for Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin to a meeting with Rabbi Shapira at the Broadway Central Hotel the following day. Written on the personal letterhead especially prepared for Rabbi Shapiro’s visit to the United States and entitling him “Chief Rabbi of Piotrokow and member of the Polish Parliament.”

R. Meir Shapiro was a major force in Polish - indeed worldwide Jewry - in his short life. A Chassid of the Chortkover Rebbe, he was a profound Talmud scholar. He held various rabbinic positions, until he founded the Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin, an elite institution even among other elite institutions of Torah learning. He was elected to the Polish Sejm representing Orthodox Jewish interests. This followed his belief that rabbinic leaders must be activists as well as scholars. In 1926 he visited the United States on a fund-raising mission, where he remained for thirteen months.