Rebetzin Chofetz Chaim? an Unusual stamp of Rebbetzin Frieda Kagan

Did the wife of the Pene Yehoshua address her husband as the Pene Yehoshua? How did the wife of the Vilna Gaon identify herself? The answer to these questions, we may never know, but a stamp of the wife of the Chofetz Chaim may show us how she identified herself.

In a copy of Machane Yisrael, a concise work for Jewish Soldiers by the Chofetz Chaim, which was published by R. Mendel Zaks in New York, in 1943, I found the ownership stamp of the Chofetz Chaim’s wife. The stamp reads: Rebetzin Chofetz Chaim, Mrs. Frieda Kagan, P. O. Station E Box 174, Montreal, Canada.

Rebbetzin Frieda Kagan, the second wife of the Chofetz Chaim escaped Europe with her son R. Aharon Kagan to arrive in Montreal, where they spent two and a half years. R. Aharon Kagan, who died suddenly in 1957 still a bachelor, spent their brief period in Montreal as Rabbi of Cong. Kinyan Torah until his arrival with his mother in New York in Aug. 1944.

Rebbetzin Kagan’s identifying herself as Rebetzin Chofetz Chaim and not as Rebetzin R. Yisrael Meir (HaKohen) Kagan can perhaps be better understood in light of the struggle of the Chofetz Chaim’s wife to preserve and promote her late husband’s memory and prevent what she viewed as the commercialization and misuse of the Chofetz Chaim’s name by various people. During the short period when she resided in New York, until her passing in 1946, she published alongside her son, several of the works of the Chofetz Chaim. Each of the published works is prefaced with a denunciation of the people who were mischaracterizing the Chofetz Chaim and creating various Yeshivot and institutions in his name in order to profit.

Apparently, the tug-of-war between the various family and outside factions over the Chofetz Chaim's legacy was evident already immediately after his passing. Rabbi Dr. Shneur Leiman has told me that R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, despite being a close friend of the Chofetz Chaim did not show up at the Chofetz Chaim's funeral, apparently to avoid being placed in a position where he would have to take sides between the conflicted factions, fighting over the Chofetz Chaim's rights and legacy.

Verso of Business Card of R. Aaron Kagan, the Chofetz Chaim's son, from the Zalman Alpert Collection

Recto of Business Card of R. Aaron Kagan, the Chofetz Chaim's son, from the Zalman Alpert Collection

In 1937, the first edition of Yoshor's biography of the Chofetz Chaim was published in New York. Interestingly, there appear to be 2 different versions of the title page of the books. While all else is identical in the volumes, one version stated on the bottom of the title page that it was published by Yeshivat Chofetz Chaim Society. The majority of the copies I have seen do not include this phrase. Was this perhaps related to the struggle for ownership over the Chofetz Chaim's legacy?

A copy of the first edition stating on bottom of title page that it was published by ישיבת חפץ חיים סאסייטי

A copy without the ישיבת חפץ חיים סאסייטי mentioned on the title page