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Lot 25
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Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis ALS re: "the Jewish faith that made possible the rescue of those adherents"
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis ALS re: "the Jewish faith that made possible the rescue of those adherents"
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Description:

Brandeis Louis

1pp  ALS on “Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D.C.” letterhead inscribed overall and signed by Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Louis Brandeis (1856-1941) as “Cordially, Louis D. Brandeis” in lower left corner of first page. The remaining pages are blank. In very good condition, overall even toning on the letter. Expected paper folds including a minor tear along crease on first page.  page measures 4.5” x 7”. Accompanied by a matching “Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D.C.” envelope bearing an uncancelled 2 cent red George Washington stamp and addressed to “Mr. David Freiberger, c/o Zionist Organization, 111 Fifth Ave., New York City”.

On February 28, 1937, Louis Brandeis penned this courteous and eloquent thank you note to fellow American Zionist David Freiberger (1876-1947). “Dear Mr. Freiberger, My thanks for your generous greeting”, Brandeis wrote. “It was the marvelous  policy of the Jewish faith that made possible the rescue of those adherents. You, who labor so hard, must have reaped great satisfaction from the happy outcome”.

Louis Brandeis was the son of Jewish Czech immigrants. He grew up secular, but became increasingly involved in supporting Jewish repatriation through Zionist organizations after 1912. The American Zionist movement gained momentum during the 1920s, but was split over the issue of internal reforms in 1930. Brandeis resigned from the Zionist Organization of America over the question of leadership. The so-called “Brandeis Group” thought that sitting Z.O.A. president Louis Lipsky (1876-1963) did not belong in the newly configured organization.; Brandeis’s correspondent David Freiberger disagreed. Brandeis’s resignation was devastating to the movement, as he was easily the most high-profile Zionist in America.

28th U.S. President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) nominated Louis Brandeis as the first Jewish Supreme Court justice in 1916; Brandeis would serve until his retirement twenty-three years later. In the 1930s, Brandeis, along with left-leaning justices Harlan Fiske Stone (1872-1946) and Benjamin Cardozo (1870-1938), formed the “Three Musketeers” and voted in favor of many New Deal policies. From 1932 to 1937, they faced off against the “Four Horsemen”, as conservative justices George Sutherland, Willis Van Devanter, James Clark McReynolds, and Pierce Butler were called.

David Freiberger was a New York lawyer and enthusiastic Zionist activist. A circa 1931 list of Jewish National Organizations in the United States, for example, notes that David Freiberger served as the President of the American Zion Commonwealth, the Treasurer of the American Relief Society for the Yemenite Jews of Jerusalem, Palestine, Inc., and an Admissions Committee officer on the American Committee of the Universal Yeshivah of Jerusalem. Freiberger and the American Zion Commonwealth raised money for the acquisition of Palestinian land for resettling Jews. They were very active during the 1920s.

Seven years after Brandeis and Freiberger disagreed on the question of Louis Lipsky and the future of the American Zionist Movement, the aging Supreme Court justice sends a cordial letter.

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