Establishment of shelters for the poor of Jerusalem – beautiful official and historic letter to the gvir Rabbi Avraham Lichtenstein of America. Signed by the leaders of the Yishuv, the heads of the Va’ad HaKlali and the Chevrat Yisrael society, under the auspices of the leading rabbis of Jerusalem, the gaon Rabbi Eliyahu David Rabnowitz Teomim – the Adere”t [with his signature], and the gaon Rabbi Shmuel Salant [stamp]. Jerusalem, 1901.
One of the largest and most important enterprises by the Va’ad HaKlali was the establishment of the Knesset Yisrael society in Jerusalem in 1891. Its primary goal was to build shelters for the poor within the walls.
The rabbis express their great joy and appreciation in this letter for the idea they heard from Rabbi Dov Aryeh HaKohen Leventhal [ av beit din of Philadelphia] conceived by the aforementioned Rabbi Avraham – to build homes on the sacred mountains of Jerusalem to shelter the poor of His nation. Jerusalem rabbis promise the benefactor that his name will be carved in gold letters in marble in the walls of the homes, and the residents will be obligated to preserve and carry out in his name and in his memory all that is written in the regulations, and his name will be gloriously honored forever.
As mentioned, the letter’s signatories include the Adere”t with his signature, the gaon Rabbi Shmuel Salant and the heads of the Va’ad HaKlali as well as the Knesset Yisrael society for the construction of shelters in Jerusalem, all prominent personalities and leading activists of the Yishuv in Jerusalem. Rabbis Ziskind Shachor, Rabbi Elimelech Perlman, Rabbi Aryeh Leib HaKohen, Rabbi Gedaliah Nachman Broder (signature-style stamp) and Rabbi Avraham Chaim Dov Shkol.
In 1901, the year this letter was written, Rabbi Shmuel Salant’s eyesight grew dim, and per his request, the Adere”t ascended to Jerusalem to serve as his assistant and successor when Rabbi Shmuel Salant’s time came. This is also the reason that Rabbi Shmuel Salant’s signature takes the form of a stamp and not his own penmanship. However, in the end, the Adere”t predeceased Rabbi Shmuel Salant in 1905, whereas Rabbi Salant lived to the age of 93, when he passed away on 29 Av 1909.
Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for brief biographies of the gaon Rabbi Shmuel Salant and the gaon Rabbi Eliyahu David Rabinowitz Teomim – the Adere”t .
[1] double leaf paper, 29 cm. High-quality graph paper. Professional scribal script on Knesset Yisrael society’s stationery, with all the official stamps of all the societies, signed and stamped by the rabbis and leaders of the Yishuv.
Fine condition. Fold marks. Aging stains. Individual worming perforations.