Magnificent rabbinic contract from the Hildesheim community in Germany, written on parchment and illustrated by an artist for Rabbi Hirsch, who was previously the rabbi of Opotchna.
Detailed rabbinic contract with all the specific conditions for the rabbi who was accepted by the community, with many signatures by the heads of the community.
It appears that the rabbi entering this position was Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch b”r Avigdor, who was the father-in-law of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Mirlash, author of Mispar Tzva’am (Berlin, 1789). Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch’s daughter, Vitash, was the woman who divorced in the great controversy in which the get was given against her will, with the participation of Rabbi Yitzchak Horowitz – Rabbi Itzikel Hamburger, and Rabbi Yechezkel Landau, author of Noda BiYehudah .
Much material about this is enclosed.
Provenance: Catalog Otzar Yisrael 1990, item 326.
Large parchment sheet. 58×41.5 cm. Approximately 40 wide lines.
Moderate condition. Tears with lack, professionally restored. Place in a passe-partout frame.
Family tree of the glorious Rivlin family, printed as a large poster in Jerusalem in 1900 by Hillel ben Yosef Rivlin.
The tree records approximately 69 descendants of Rabbi Moshe Ravkash (1600-1684), author of Be’er HaGolah and av beit din of Vilna about 400 years ago, and ending with Rabbi Yosef Rivlin, Va’ad HaKlali scribe.
The family, under the leadership of Rabbi Hillel Rivlin, one of the Gr”a’s disciples, ascended to the Land of Israel in 1809 following the call of the Vilna gaon, with the intent to receive the mashiach upon his imminent arrival.
[1] leaf paper. 59×47 cm. Affixed to paper.
Moderate-fine condition. Tears in the folds.
Regulations of the Lomdei Torah D’Kehillat Dierschke Society . 12 regulations handwritten and signed by the head of the Society, the renowned gaon Rabbi Yosef Leib Sofer, author of Yalkut Yosef , from the famous family of scribes – the most prominent dynasty in Hungary after the Chatam Sofer’s dynasty. Interesting document.
Document in which Talmudic scholars joined together and took strict regulations upon themselves in order to be diligent in their Torah study. The regulations are backed by sanctions and fines for noncompliance with these regulations that the Society’s members accepted upon themselves, and they signed on this. The first of the signatories is the gaon Rabbi Yosef Leib Sofer, followed by another 13 of this sacred society’s members. The other names have not been examined. We will emphasize that the society’s study schedule was for after their days’ work, whether said work be in a Torah position or otherwise. From careful study of the strict regulations the Society’s members took upon themselves, one can understand how that special generation in Hungary sprouted such giants in Torah and fear of G-d.
Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of the gaon Rabbi Yosef Leib (Yehudah) Sofer .
[3] large leaves. 21×35 cm. Entirely handwritten and signed by the gaon Rabbi Yosef Leib Sofer.
Fine condition. Aging stains. Professionally restored tears.
Rabbi Petashnik descended from distinguished lineage. His father, Rabbi Nachum Yehoshua, may his blood be avenged, was a son of Rabbi Avraham Shmuel, the Admo”r of Brezan, who was the Admo”r of Belz’s, Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach’s father-in-law in his second marriage.
R’ Nachum Yehoshua was a son-in-law of Rabbi Alter Mordechai Sephard, the Admo”r of Ostroh Chassidut. Already in his youth, R’ Nachum Yehoshua was granted a certificate of ordination by rabbinic leaders. In 1912, he was given the rabbinate of Dubrovitza (Vohlin). In 1921, after this region was transferred to Polish rule, he was crowned chief rabbi of the Sarny district. He was deeply devoted to the country’s Jews and its Judaism. He was killed by the Nazis, may their names be obliterated, in Elul of 1942.
R’ Aharon was a son-in-law of Rabbi Shalom Zuckerman, the Admo”r of Rashkov. In his youth, R’ Aharon was active in youth groups strengthening Jewish heritage and ascending to the Land of Israel. Later on, he joined the Mizrachi movement, where he became one of the biggest movers and shakers preparing youth for aliyah. He, his wife, and his young children miraculously evaded Nazi soldiers and fled to the United States. He resided there in The Bronx where he served as a rabbi in the Rashkov Chassidic synagogue.
Content of the letter:
This letter, written in Tishrei 1943, is addressed to his friend Rabbi Chaim Bloch, who also escaped the Nazi claws and settled in The Bronx. At the beginning of the letter, he laments the lion’s share of the Jewish people currently being killed in the War, and that it is unfortunate that they did not wake up and immigrate to the Land of Israel before the outbreak of war. He decries that many people have crowned their city abroad as ‘Jerusalem’!
Later on, he delicately castigates him for his previous letter, in which Rabbi Bloch harshly criticized the Zionist enterprise that is taking over the Land. Here Rabbi Petashnik exclaims that this is not a question of politics and domination, but of life and death! And according to [your] opinion, is Jewish life in America better, where huge swaths of the Jewish people are assimilating?
He continues, writing about the sharp opposition in the Belz Chassidic court to immigration to the Land of Israel: About twenty years previously, a family member ascended to the Land, and he was warned to return home, so that the Belz lineage not be damaged [apparently this refers to R’ Yitzchak David Rokeach, son of Rabbi Yehoshua of Yaroslav, son of Rabbi Yissachar Dov of Belz].
And now the Admo”r R’ Aharon is begging him to rescue him! And that he can take refuge in the Land of Israel.
He also relates the case of Rabbi Aharon Levine, av beit din of Reisha, who also begs him to see to entry permits to the Land. He concludes his letter by saying that while the Jewish people’s blood is being spilled like water, there is no place for opposing the idea of ascending to the Land of Israel.
[1] leaf official stationery. Written on both sides.
Very fine condition.
In c. 1714, a booklet with [4] leaves was printed in Kushta, containing letters by Rabbi Shimshon Wertheimer regarding the debts of the Ashkenazic community of Jerusalem. From this booklet, only the [2] inner leaves had survived (leaves 2-3). Ya’ari in his book HaDfus HaIvri B’Kushta no. 280, listed these leaves as the only copy in the world, per the copy appearing in the library of the seminar in New-York. The National Library has only leaf 3 and a photocopy of leaf 2.
This is the very rare leaf 2, from the booklet whose other leaves (of which additonal copies are known of) are also very rare. Scarce!
After a short period, this booklet was reprinted, omitting the sharp expressions against dignitaries of the Ashkenazic community of Jerusalem. From this booklet, only leaf 2 had survived. The leaf before us is from the first edition, with the sharp expressions!
The leaf was taken from a ‘binding Genizah’, from the binding of the book Bnei Chayai , Kushta 1712.
[1] leaf. Approx. 32 cm.
Moderate condition. The leaf is cut all along its center, with lack of several words. Some worming perforations to the margins. Many aging stains.
Historic document: Permit to visit the infamous Akko prison, issued to the “Father of Prisoners, ” the tzaddik Rabbi Aryeh Levin, from the headquarters of the Prison Authority of His Majesty’s government in Palestine, in order to visit and pray with the underground prisoners. The document is signed by the Commissioner of Prisons, and was given at the urging of Rabbi Yaakov Goldman, who then served as rabbi of the Mandate prisons in the Land of Israel. Jerusalem, September 1946.
This visitor’s permit was issued in September 1946 – towards the end of Elul, just before Rosh HaShanah. The tzaddik Rabbi Aryeh apparently arrived to pray with the underground prisoners and to encourage them towards the upcoming new Jewish year. About a half a year later, they were hanged there – in the infamous gallows room – the Olei HaGardom – Dov Groner, Mordechai Alkachi, Yechiel Dresner and Eliezer Kashani, may their blood be avenged, who were arrested in 1946.
Rabbi Aryeh Levin was rabbi of the underground prisoners in Jerusalem, and would visit them regularly. He would even smuggle letters from their families to them, and letters from the underground leaders. This permit reveals to us for the first time that he would also occasionally go to the Akko prison, so the administrators of the prison arranged an entry permit to the Akko Prison for him. This permit is for one day, September 23, 1946, two days before the Jewish new year.
Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of the gaon and tzaddik Rabbi Aryeh Levin .
[1] leaf official stationery, approximately 15×20 cm. Typewritten and signed by British Commissioner of Prisons.
Very fine condition. Fold marks. Filing perforations.
Rare collection of [9] invitations designed for weddings by prominent families of Jerusalem of yesteryear, some even from the leaders of Jerusalem themselves!
The very phenomenon of wedding invitations was not widespread. Yet here is a collection including [9] invitations, all Yerushalmi, from the crème de la crème of the city.
There are historic discoveries here, marriage contracts that were unknown even to historians of Jerusalem. The locations of the families’ residences, which were generally where the wedding feasts were held. This collection is especially important for genealogists searching for family ties among the Old Yishuv’s families.
Innovation in graphics: Most of the invitations were printed in gilt or colored lettering, together with various pictures. The forms of the leaves themselves are also spectacular – from small cards and folded leaves to large sheets.
Specifications of some of the invitations:
1. Invitation from the Adere”t, rabbi of Jerusalem, for his son Raphael Levi’s wedding.
2. Invitation from Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, av beit din of the Edah HaChareidit, for the wedding of his son Eliyahu Mordechai and the daughter of R’ Menachem Nathan Auerbach. Rabbi Menachem Nathan Auerbach was one of the rabbis of the city, a grandson of the author of Imrei Binah .
Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for details of the other invitations.
[9] leaves in total. Various sizes.
Overall moderate-fine condition. Aging stains. Folds and creases. Tiny tears in the margins of several invitations.
Large collection of documents from Rabbi Aharon Simchah Blumenthal’s archive. Rabbi Blumenthal was a prominent Torah scholar and renowned Yerushalmi activist. Between the lines of these letters are Yerushalmi affairs and intrigues, some of which are unknown, and some not yet researched in-depth, and this collection sheds light on them. Important Yerushalmi collection.
Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a partial list of the documents and historic background that sheds light on their historical importance and the lofty rabbinic and diplomatic status of their writers and signatories.
One of the discoveries in this collection, revealed here for the first time: Letter from Rabbi Chaim HaKohen Kook from 1934 in which he denies the rumour about Rabbi Kook ostensibly permitting violation of Shabbat for the release of Ze’ev Jabotinsky.
Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of R’ Aharon Simchah Blumenthal.
The collection includes over [120] letters and postcards. Various sizes.
Overall very fine condition.
