Letter in the handwriting and signature of the Musar genius Rabbi Shlomo Wolba - an answer to a scholar on matters of morality and Hashkafa, in which he warns, among other things, not to think or speak anything against Rabbi Shach.
In his letter, the genius writes: "In order to reach a correct view of the matters you have written about, you need to study in books that place man on real foundations. My advice to you is to study the book Michtav MeElijah by the Gr'a Dessler. All the matters you touched on, you will find there are well explained. To your last question:
Be very careful of "politics" and G-d forbid not to think or speak against the Gr'a Shach. with blessing S. wolba.
Background to the matter: As is well known, Rabbi Shlomo Wolba was occupied with the "method of morality" at the Mir Yeshiva from an early age. During and after the Holocaust, he stayed in Sweden and later came to Israel, approached the Hazon Ish and later stood out especially as the Mashgiach of the "Beer Yaakov" Yeshiva. Rabbi Wolba dealt not only with the matter of correcting the moral of the individual but also with the questions of general "Hashkofeh". After the Six Day War he was one of the forefathers of the Teshuvah movement in its early days. However, upon his retirement from the yeshiva, in the early 1980s, he decided to devote himself to matters of "work of virtue" and to the educational guidance of individuals seeking to ascend in the ranks of "Yirah".
It is known and famous that Rabbi Shach's opinion was not comfortable with the "new trends in the moral movement." Although he did not explicitly state this, Rabbi Shach saw in Rabbi Wolba's way an aspiration and an attempt to renew the spirit of the early Mussar movement, albeit in a more moderate version. Not long ago, Rabbi Shach criticized Rabbi Wolba's method. Although he was not known to oppose the Mussar way, he preferred the "traditional" Mussar approaches, which did not incorporate "matters of Hashkofeh" for the learner, but engaged in studying the famous Mussar books, encouraging Torah study, and maintaining the yeshiva order. Rabbi Shach did not want to rule out attempts to revive morality in Rabbi Wolba's way openly, so as not to err in his words, and come to think that the study of morality itself is undesirable, so he turned his criticism to the unique educational method of the "Mashgiach", which he presented as too innovative.
Rabbi Wolba in his humble way did not return war at all, and dismissed his opinion against the opinion of Rabbi Shach, and in his own way continued to guide individuals who came to receive advice and wisdom from him. In the letter before us, his Submission to the leader of the generation is evident, in which he warns a young burner who tried to find out his opinion regarding what was published in the name of Rabbi Shach, and his words sounded controversial, and instructed him not to think or speak anything against Rabbi Shach.
[1] Official paper page of the "Beit HaMussar". Attached is the envelope in which the letter from Gras'h Wolba was sent. Folding marks. Very good condition.
