Letter handwritten and signed by Rav Yosef Eliyahu Henkin 2 Rav Moshe Feinstein for Sale

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Letter handwritten and signed by Rav Yosef Eliyahu Henkin 2 Rav Moshe Feinstein For Sale

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Letter handwritten and signed by Rav Yosef Eliyahu Henkin 2 Rav Moshe Feinstein:
$399.00

He was born in 1881 inKlimavichy,Belarus, then in theRussian Empire, andstudied at the Slutzker Yeshiva under RabbiIsser Zalman Meltzer. He received rabbinical ordination (semichah) from Rabbi Meltzer, and he was also ordained byRabbiYaakov Dovid Wilovsky(the Ridvaz), RabbiBoruch Ber Leibowitzand RabbiYechiel Michel Epstein, theAruch HaShulchan. However,according to the recollections of a student (included in the responsa of RabbiHenkin\'s grandson), Rabbi Henkin did not remember receiving ordination fromRabbi Epstein, and for his ordination from Rabbi Wilovsky he was not tested byWilovsky himself, but by Wilovsky\'s son-in-law.[1]After serving as rabbi in a number of Russian towns, heemigrated to America in 1922. In 1925 he became the director ofEzras Torah, whichprovided assistance to scholars. He served in that capacity until his death.

Under his guidance, and following hisdecisions, Ezras Torah published an annual calendar (luach) listing thesynagogue and liturgical customs for each day, specifying the specific practiceof that day. Most traditional non-chassidic synagogues in North Americafollowed the decisions of Rabbi Henkin as their baseline.

He had two sons:Louis Henkin, legalacademician and writer, and Rabbi Hillel Henkin, educator in Connecticut. Hisgrandson was RabbiYehudaHerzl Henkin, anOrthodoxrabbiinIsrael. Many of Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin\'s opinions are onlyknown through theresponsaofhis grandson.

Halachic Positions

Rabbi Henkin consideredReformmarriage as aform of common law marriage requiring a Jewish divorce (get).

He was opposed to the practice seen inmanyyeshivasandsynagoguesof pausingin the middle of theRoshHashanahservices forkiddushand refreshments beforeshofar-blowing. (His stance is defended in his grandson\'sresponsa.)

If a Jewish storekeeper completed a formto sell hischametzto a non-JewbeforePassover, yet he kept hisstore open, sellingchametzonPassoverand keeping the profits for himself, RabbiHenkin felt that this proved the \"Chametz sale\" to be afraudand therefore invalid. (RabbiMoshe Feinstein, on theother hand, believed the sale to still be valid.)

Rabbi Henkin felt that in a case wheretuna are being caught, it is halachically permissible to check only a few ofeach batch and not each individual fish; Rabbi Feinstein, on the other hand,felt that each fish needed to be checked for kosher markings that it was infact, a tuna and not some other fish.

Manhattan eruv

In 1936, Rabbi Henkin declared that RabbiYehoshua Seigel\'s 1905 Manhattan eruv could no longer be relied on because hehad only acquired permission for ten years. However, Rabbi Henkin\'s mainargument why the eruv could no longer be relied on was because of theconstruction of bridges that crossed Manhattan’s waterfront.[2]

Rabbi Henkin was involved in all thediscussions about the Manhattan eruv, and on March 15, 1960, he signed on aStatement of the Vaad L’Maan Tikkun Eruvin B’Manhattan[3]that stated the need to investigate how to bring to fruitionthe plan for a Manhattan eruv.

On July 12, 1961, Rabbi Henkin wrote aletter stating that there was a sound basis to establish an eruv in Manhattan.[4]Yet, he wrote that until the eruv would receive the written supportof most of the rabbanim of Manhattan, the permission for the eruv would only befor times of great need.

The 1979 letter opposing the Flatbusheruv alleges that Rabbi Henkin signed the 1962[5]letter against the Manhattan eruv. Yet, his name is not onit, and it is on the 1960 letter in favor.[6][7]

The prevailing view on this matterappears to be that of Rabbi Henkin\'s, which may be derived from the fact thatas of June 2007, the East Side portion of the internal Manhattan Eruv wascompleted, offering an eruv within Manhattan to Orthodox Jews living on theEast, Upper East, and Upper West Sides.[8]Additionally, there are also two other eruvin in Manhattan\'sWashington Heights, a neighborhood that also once resisted the drive toestablish them; one covering theYeshiva Universityarea[9]and another covering the Fort Washington area.[10]

Position on Israel

Henkin vigorously opposed Zionism, butonce the State ofIsraelwasestablished he declared the need to support its continued existence, anddenounced those who tried to undermine it. In 1959 he wrote:

Bibliography

Rabbi Norman E. Frimer and Dov I. Frimer,\"Reform Marriages in Contemporary Halakhic Responsa,\" Tradition, Vol.21, No. 3 (Fall 1984), 7 - 39;

Henkin, Rabbi Yehuda,EqualityLost, Chapter 16 \"Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin\", pp.156–180(biography of Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin by his grandson), Jerusalem: UrimPublications, 1999.

References

1.^Benei BanimVol. II,Essay 1, Paragraphs 9 and 12 (\"בני בנים - חלק א - הנקין, יהודה הרצל (Page 210of 315)\". Archived fromthe originalon July24, 2015. RetrievedAugust 23,2015.)

2.^Luach HaYovel Shel Ezras Torah,p.62. This letter was later reprinted in Edus L’Yisroel, 1949(p.151)

3.^Divrei Menachem, O.C. vol. 2p.10

4.^ioffer., pp.14–15; Hapardes36th year, vol. 4, and Kisvei Hagriah Henkin, pp.32–33

5.^2007 reaffirmations of the Manhattan eruv prohibitionalong with the original 1962 prohibition where Henkin\'s signature is clearlynot presentArchivedJuly 4, 2008, at theWayback Machine

6.^Part 1 of Discussion on Henkin\'sposition on Eruvin in Manhattan

7.^Part 2 of Henkin\'s position on Eruvinin Manhattan

8.^NYTimes,A Translucent Wire in the Sky, By Sewell Chan, June 15, 2007

9.^YU Eruv

10.^Discussion on Washington Heights Eruv

11.^RabbiChaim Wasserman.\"Rav Henkin ztz\"l on EretzIsrael and Medinat Yisrael\". Archived fromthe originalon August 29, 2005.