Extremely interesting letter from the Rishon L’Tzion, Rabbi Yitzchak Kubo, and the leaders of the Askenazi yishuv of Jerusalem, to Moshe Montefiore. Jerusalem, 1851.
Specifications: [1] leaf, paper. 21×26 cm. Pleasant handwriting.
Content: Letter of thanks for sending a donation to the residents of Jerusalem. Signed by the Rishon L’Tzion Rabbi Yitzchak Kubo, Rabbi David Tevli Berlin (son of Rabbi Shlomo Herschel, Av Beit Din of London son of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Berlin, son of Rabbi Aryeh Leib, Av Beit Din of Amsterdam, son-in-law of the Chacham Tzvi, one of the builders and activists of Jerusalem), and R’ Nissan Beck (the son of the well-known printer Yisrael Beck, a chassid of Ruzhin and one of the foremost activists in Jerusalem).
Unique Features: Among the donations sent was ‘the donation of a nobleman who is not a member of our nation of the sum of one lira and ten shillings’ about which Rabbi Yitzchak Kubo writes in his handwriting and signature in the margins of the letters “I inform that I, the Rishon L’Tzion who signs first, did not want to benefit from the aforementioned one lira and ten shillings from the nobleman who is not a member of our faith, and did not take anything from it, and in his honor I signed on this as well …”
In this letter, the Rishon L’Tzion remains steadfast in his decision not to receive donations from non-Jews even though the Sefardi Kollels were in a state of ‘poverty and suffering.’ (Regarding the topic of whether it is permissible to receive charity from a non-Jew, see Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 254 and modern-day literature where this topic is discussed extensively.)
Background: The Rishon L’Tzion Rabbi Yitzchak Kubo (1770-1854) of Salonika, immigrated to Israel toward the end of his life and was appointed as the Rishon L’Tzion in place of Rabbi Agan. In his time, the Sefardi kollels were in a terrible state and he therefore undertook to go abroad as an emissary, but took ill on his way to Egypt and died.
Condition: Fine – very fine. Fold marks, tiny holes in the right hand margins of the leaf as the letter was previously bound.