An exceptionally rare letter from the days of horror, from the Imrei Chaim of Vizhnitz, addressed to the Admo"r Rabbi Avraham Heschel of Kopyczynitz, who was in Lugano, Switzerland. The letter is primarily a plea and request for assistance in rescuing the Admo"r Rabbi Moshe of Boyan, from Cracow. Among other things, the Imrei Chaim mentions a ship that is in Constanta, Romania, on which he is hanging his hopes. Escaping Europe via that ship, however, requires a vast sum that he does not have. He therefore writes “How can I eat when Jews are mired in such a situation.”

The Imrei Chaim also relates that Jewish refugees are fleeing from Poland to Romania, bringing stories of events there, and he wants to help them, too.


The Admo"r Rabbi Chaim Meir Hager, author of Imrei Chaim (1888-1972) was the son and successor of the Ahavat Yisrael of Vizhnitz. Rabbi Chaim’s Torah thoughts were compiled into the Imrei Chaim series of books. He was also renowned for his tremendous caring and concern for all Jews, and a tiny measure of that can be seen in this letter.