Letter Handwritten and Signed by Chaim Nachman Bialik, to Yaakov Meir Zalkind - London, 1931

Letter Handwritten and Signed by Chaim Nachman Bialik, to Yaakov Meir Zalkind - London, 1931
Letter handwritten and signed by Chaim Nachman Bialik, to Yaakov Meir Zalkind. Written on stationery of Hotel Russell in London. [London], January 1931.
In his letter Bialik refers to one of the volumes of the Talmud published by Zalkind in Yiddish translation, with commentary. Bialik praises Zalkind for his work and at the same time entreats him to write his Talmud commentary in Hebrew: "I gratefully received the issue of the Kil'ayim Tractate… and again I say to you: Cease using the Jewish language in this work. In this way it won't succeed. The natural habitat of your commentary is the Hebrew language. The Hebrew-reading public in need of your commentary is twenty times greater than the Yiddish one… you know that it is not due to envy or disfavor towards the Jewish language that I say so. In my heart I hold no resentment towards it… except that the value of the Hebrew commentary is seven times, or even seventy-seven times that of the Yiddish".
Yaakov Meir Zalkind (1875-1937), rabbi, author, translator and publicist, born in Kobryn. Received a traditional education in a heder and later at the Volozhin yeshiva, while also completing general studies. At the age of 20 he set out to study philology and philosophy at universities in Germany, France and Switzerland, and upon completing his studies he settled in England where he served as the rabbi of the Cardiff community. From a young age he was active in Zionist organizations, and in 1913 he even established the First London Achuzah Company which purchased about half of the lands of Karkur. In 1933 he immigrated to Palestine and settled in Haifa, where he died in 1937.
Over the years Zalkind published articles and essays in Yiddish, Hebrew and English. Among other things he was involved in the translation of the Talmud to Yiddish - an enterprise that was never completed (his translation and commentary on the Talmud were published in London in the years 1922-1931).
[1] leaf (two written pages), 17.5 cm. Good condition. Horizontal fold line and light creases. Numerous stains.
See: The Letters of Chaim Nachman Bialik, edited by Fishel Lahover, Tel Aviv: Dvir, 1938-1939. Volume 5, pp. 134-135.
Provenance: Collection of Ben Zion Kahana.