A historic and important letter in the handwriting and signature of the Rebbe of Ozerov - Rabbi Moshe Yechiel Halevi Epstein in the midst of the terrible Holocaust, in which he firmly states his opinion that the Nazi enemy will fall on his way to Eretz Israel, and will not be able to approach the gates of the Land. It was sent to Rabbi Moshe Yair Weinstock on July 9 1942 during the great occupations of the German Wehrmacht General Erwin Rommel in North Africa eastward on his way to Eretz Israel.
The Rebbe opens his letter with the matter of funds to be distributed to the holy institutions in the Land of Israel, and asks that they send him the Sefer HaZohar printed by Rabbi Margaliot, and implores Rabbi Weinstock to make an effort in the matter of printing his books, and not to worry about the future because: "I firmly believe that the hater will be discriminating, And will not arrive in Eretz Yisrael, and there is no doubt that our salvation is near to come", Towards the end of things the Rebbe asks him to pray for him and his relatives who need complete healing. The words about the 'hater' not to come near the Land of Israel are aimed at the German army led by Rommel who advanced in North Africa in conquest after conquest defeating the British army, in the direction of the Land of Israel.
During World War II, Eretz Israel under British Mandate rule twice faced the danger of an invasion by the Nazis and their allies. The first danger began in June 1940 when Germany occupied France, and control of France and its colonies was in the hands of the pro-Nazi Vichy regime. Syria and Lebanon came under pro-Nazi rule. The British working assumption was that a German invasion of Eretz Israel from the north was a viable option. In the summer of 1940 the British began to build fortification lines to protect the country from invasion and to prepare acts of resistance to the occupiers, should it falls to the enemy. Later in 1942, General Rommel's Africa Corps advanced in North Africa to the east and the fear of the fall of the Suez Canal increased. Due to this fear, the British devised the "Palestine final fortress" plan. To create a line of defense in the mountainous areas of the north of the country. As the Corps of Africa advanced toward the Suez Canal, anxiety prevailed in the settlement, and the leadership of the settlement began to formulate a "Masada on the Carmel" plan to concentrate all the people of the settlement on Mount Carmel and its environs for a heroic and possibly final defense battle. This period in the history of the settlement was nicknamed "Two Hundred Days of Anxiety." Finally, as is well known, in light of the British victory in the Battle of El Alamein II and the repulsion of the enemy from North Africa in November 1942, the threat of Nazi occupation was removed from Eretz Israel exactly as the Rebbe predicted in his letter.
[2] pages. 25x20 cm. Good condition. Attached is the original envelope in which the letter was sent.
