Letter Handwritten and Signed by Rabbi Chaim HaLevi of Brisk – Brisk, 1895

Letter Handwritten and Signed by Rabbi Chaim HaLevi of Brisk – Brisk, 1895
Interesting letter handwritten and signed by R. Chaim HaLevi Soloveitchik, with the "Stamp of the Beit Din… Brisk in Lithuania. Brisk (Brest), Tevet 1895.
Sent to a R. Avraham David (who presumably served as rabbi or posek). In his letter, R. Chaim expresses his surprise, why the inquiring rabbi, who obviously possesses straight reasoning and does not rule unless he has fully clarity, is later second-guessing himself and his ability to rule. At the end of the letter, R. Chaim adds: "His honor should not bear grudge against me for not expanding on Halachic topics, since the time does not allow me to".
This letter, written in the early days of R. Chaim's tenure as rabbi of Brisk, was written entirely in his own handwriting, unlike letters from later periods, which were written on his behalf by his attendants and household members.
R. Chaim HaLevi Soloveitchik of Brisk, Rabbi of Brisk (1853-1918), a foremost Torah scholar in Lithuania and one of the leaders of his generation, is considered the initiator of the learning method in Lithuanian yeshivot. He was the son of R. Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, the Beit HaLevi, and son-in-law of R. Refael Shapira, dean of the Volozhin yeshiva and son-in-law of the Netziv. After his marriage, he began serving as a third dean of the Volozhin yeshiva. With the yeshiva's closure, he proceeded to succeed his father, who passed away in 1894, as rabbi of Brisk, and continued teaching Torah to a small group of elite students. He was known for the uncompromising battle he waged against Zionism (R. Chaim would frequently say that the Zionist movement's prime objective is to uproot faith and Torah observance from the Jewish people). He was one of the founders of Agudath Yisrael, yet despite his extensive public and charitable activity, he did not cease innovating and learning Torah in his thoughts, delving deeply in Torah topics until to absolute exhaustion. A small compendium of his novellae was printed some twenty years after his passing, in the book Chiddushei Rabbeinu Chaim HaLevi on the Rambam, published by his son R. Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik Rabbi of Brisk (Brisk, 1936 – in the foreword by the author's sons, they write how this book was written over a period of many years, revised over and over again, "even a hundred times"). Many novellae were disseminated orally in his name throughout Lithuanian yeshivot, transmitted and copied by many writers, resulting in the stencil edition of Chiddushei HaGaon R. Chaim [in recent years, several books were published based on R. Chaim's draft notebooks, including some novellae parallel to those printed in Chiddushei HaGaon R. Chaim based on oral transmission].
[1] leaf. Approx. 13X22 cm. Fair condition. Severe wear, slightly affecting text, professionally repaired.
The verso of the leaf contains novellae on the laws of Treifot (presumably written by the recipient of the letter).