Auction 1 - Rare Hebrew Books, Manuscripts & Rabbinic Letters
Lot 18:
Description
A spectacular, emotionally stirring set of original historical documents entirely in the handwriting of the undisputed halachic authority of American Jewry,Maran Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l. The archive consists of:
1. The Original Printed Ketubah Form, crossed out with a large “X” across its face by Rav Moshe’s own hand, with the entirety of the amended Ketubah text handwritten by Rav Moshe across the reverse side.
2. A Second Printed Ketubah Form, similarly cross-utilized, featuring the complete text of the Tena’im (nuptial conditions) handwritten by Rav Moshe across its reverse side.
Dating to 1957, these documents offer a remarkable glimpse into the greatness and humility of Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, and demonstrate in a remarkably tangible way a quality that is sometimes difficult to capture in words: the extraordinary humility of a man who had already become one of the undisputed Torah giants of American Jewry.
The story begins with a wedding. The kallah was a neighbor and close friend of the Feinstein family, and Rav Moshe had a particularly personal connection to her family. He had officiated at her first wedding and had subsequently been involved in the proceedings surrounding her divorce. Several years later, when she was to marry again, Rav Moshe once again served as the mesader kiddushin. By 1957, Rav Moshe had already officiated at countless weddings. He had an established procedure and, as was customary, arrived at the wedding with a printed ketubah form that he traditionally used. There was nothing unusual about the document; it was simply the standard printed ketubah that Rav Moshe had used on other occasions, and he proceeded to fill it out as he had done many times before. In the case of a second marriage of the bride, there is an accepted practice of inserting a “kiyum” or revision of the printed edition to note the bride’s status.
As Rav Moshe sat writing the ketubah, however, a relative of the kallah, a chassid with his own traditions, was seated beside him. The relative noticed several aspects of the way Rav Moshe was filling out the ketubah that he believed should be changed, and he respectfully pointed them out, offering a number of corrections and revisions. Under ordinary circumstances, one could easily imagine such a situation ending with the person making the suggestions quietly backing away. After all, this was Rav Moshe Feinstein. By this time, he was already widely recognized as the leading posek in America. His reputation was firmly established, his Torah authority was recognized throughout the country, and Jews from all corners of American Orthodoxy turned to him with their most difficult halachic questions. Rav Moshe could easily have brushed aside the suggestions, explained that he had his own established practice, or simply continued writing the ketubah as he had done countless times before. Instead, what he did next is precisely what makes these documents so extraordinary.
Rav Moshe took the printed ketubah and drew a large X across it. He did not argue with the relative or attempt to demonstrate that his original version was correct. He did not invoke his stature or authority. Instead, he simply set aside the ketubah on which he had already begun writing and turned to the reverse side. There, on the back of the very same printed form, Rav Moshe proceeded to write the entire ketubah by hand. He did not merely make the requested corrections or alter a few lines; he started over and wrote the ketubah in its entirety. Another printed ketubah was then used in a similar fashion, with its reverse side serving as the place where the tena’im were written. What survives today, therefore, is an extraordinary physical record of this otherwise seemingly ordinary wedding: a printed ketubah with a large X across its face, and on its reverse side the handwritten ketubah of Rav Moshe Feinstein himself.
While any lesser figure would have rightfully asserted their unparalleled authority, decades of experience, and mastery over the laws of marriage, Rav Moshe’s reaction was a stunning manifestation of self-effacement. Without a single word of defensiveness, ego, or debate, Rav Moshe simply took his pen, drew a large, striking “X” across the face of the official document he had painstakingly begun to fill out, flipped the parchment over, and patiently wrote the entire text again by hand from memory to accommodate the feelings of a fellow Jew. He repeated this exact process on a second form to draft the Tena’im.
For a Torah-observant collector, this archive is far more than a rare autograph manuscript. It is a sacred, physical crystallization of the Talmudic dictum that “wherever you find the greatness of a Torah sage, there you find his humility.” A crown jewel for any serious archive of contemporary rabbinic history.
The details regarding these documents have been conveyed and confirmed by the son of the aforementioned couple, Yossi Hirsch of Manhattan, New York
Preserved in excellent condition, with crisp, bold ink and standard folding lines consistent
Opening price: $1500
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