Letter from the heads and directors of the Ashkenazic kollels in the holy city of Jerusalem to the Va’ad HaYisraeli, Va’ad Ha’Aretz HaKedoshah in the city of Livorno. Jerusalem, 1873.
Specifications: [1] leaf paper. Scribal handwriting, with signatures and stamp of the Kollel of the Ashkenazim Perushim.
Content: The letter is signed in the handwriting of the heads of the Kollel who were highly respected people and among the heads of the Jewish settlement in Jerusalem, rabbis and Torah scholars. They are: Rabbi Avraham Eisenstein (1800-1886) son-in-law of Rabbi Chaim of Pinsk and disciple of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin. He immigrated to Israel together with his father-in-law in 1823, and succeeded him after his passing as a dayan on the Beit Din of Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov, and later served on the Beit Din of the Imrei Binah. He was one of the leaders of the settlement in Jerusalem and the chairman of the Va’ad HaKlali. Rabbi Yaakov Yehuda Levi – author of the book Beit L’Avot , Rabbi Nachum of Szadek’s youngest brother. Immigrated to Israel together with his brother in 1844, dayan and Av Beit Din in Jerusalem for many years. Rabbi Elazar Natan Kahana Shapira – one of the greatest managers of the committee, was revered by Jews and gentiles alike, and was one of the first to receive Kaiser Franz Josef when he visited Jerusalem. Rabbi Feivish Friedman. Rabbi Meir of Anykščiai – supervisor of Kollel Vilna, agent of Etz Chaim and member of the burial society. He studied Torah diligently. He immigrated to Jerusalem in 1862. Rabbi Isaac Yaffe of Droy – one of the heads and directors of the Va’ad HaAshkenazim. Rabbi Zev Wolf Wolfinson (1814-1886) – son of Rabbi Avraham Wolfinson of Shklov-Jerusalem, travelled ten times as an emissary for Jerusalem. Rabbi Meir of Minsk.
Unique Features: This letter was enclosed with a letter of condolence sent on the death of the Caid [=officer] Nissim Shamama of Tunisia. In order to understand the letter, we must first explain that the agreement between the Ashkenazic and Sephardic kollels was that neither would send letters to Italy without the other. In this letter the Ashkenazic rabbis write that as they heard that the Sephardim breached the agreement and sent a separate letter, they are also sending this letter, and they demand to receive their share in the large estate which the officer left behind.
It is known that there was later an extensive polemic about the halachic validity of the will. The end result was both the Sephardim and the Ashkenazim received their share of the estate. (Refer to Luach Eretz Yisrael by Luncz, 8th year).
Condition: Fine-very fine. Fold marks, short tears along the fold mark.