Letter in the handwriting and signature of Rabbi Shimon Shkop head of shaar HaTora Yeshiva in Grodno. Grodno, Nissan, 12, 1931.
In his letter, Rabbi Shimon Shakop addresses Rabbi Yosef Yaffe of Manchester by a special envoy who was to come to England on behalf of the yeshiva, requesting assistance to the yeshiva: "I can't describe in words the magnitude of the pressure and stress that prevail in the yeshiva economy, The danger of falling scare us . Therefore, all giving a helping hand is strengthening our hands to hold on in times of need and distress - on the blessing of establishing the Torah will be blessed ..."
The Grodna Yeshiva was founded by students who passed through the city of Grodna to attend the great and famous yeshivas and were trapped in the city due to World War I. They settled in the Beit Midrash "Yessod VeShoredh HaAvodah" There were gathered Yeshiva students from the war refugees (in a letter sent by the Yeshiva's management to the American Rabbinical Association in the first months of its establishment, this was well expressed). From its inception, the yeshiva knew of financial difficulties. The yeshiva supported by the "Ezrah" Association, which stopped its support when the Germans withdrawal from the city: "All the revenues are gone and all the sources are shut down ... as a result of the suffering, There is no more power to endure, it came to hunger in real simple sense of the word" [From the above letter]. In 1920, following the Polish and the Soviet Union War, most of the yeshiva students, except for a small handful, left to Ponevezh, and when the Red Army entered the city the yeshiva completely closed. After the army retreat (1921), the yeshiva was re-established in the "Alshech" seminary, and several members of Rabbi Shimon Shakop were appointed to the yeshiva. During the 1920s, the yeshiva experienced economic ups and downs. In 1929, when the yeshiva's situation deteriorated economically, Rabbi Shimon Shakop traveled to the United States for a year to raise funds for the yeshiva. (During his stay there, he was offered to serve as head of Rabbi Yitzhak Elchanan yeshiva in New York. He served there for a number of months, but at the request of Hafetz Chaim and Rabbi Haim Ozer Grodzanski he returned to Grodna). The letter before us was written during one of the difficult periods of the yeshiva, as stated by Rabbi Shimon in his holy language: "The danger of falling scares us." Despite the difficulties, the yeshiva continued until the outbreak of World War II. After the outbreak of the war, most of the Yeshiva students fled to Vilnius, and this time too Rabbi Shimon Shakop remained with a handful of students. On the 9th of Cheshvan 1939, Rabbi Shakop was able to speak to the environmental rabbis assembled at his home to ask for advice on educational matters, but later died, in the middle of the Mincha prayer, at the age of 80. After the passing of Rabbi Shakop, the last students left, and most of the nucleus passed To Vilnius.
[1] Official stationery leaf. 14 lines in handwriting and signed by Rabbi Shimon Shakop. 27x21 cm. Filing holes. Folding marks. Very good condition.
