Letter appointing fundraiser Shmuel Shalom on behalf of the rabbis of Hebron, 1668.
Specifications: [1] doubled leaf, 24×20 cm. One page letter, the back is addressed to someone – without a name.
Unique features: The letter describes the difficult, painful, hungry conditions in Hebron. “For five years, one after another.” It describes the needs of the Hebron poor, the activities of the Torah sages and the facilities, “for our brethren who come to pray at the graves of our holy Patriarchs and Matriachs.” The fundraiser was sent to notify the Jewish communities of the terrible troubles and to enlist them in saving the Jewish community in Hebron: “To beg before our brethren to pay attention and have pity on their brothers…so that the sons should not be exiled from the table of their fathers.”The document is signed by Hebron sages: Rabbi Shlomo Ashkenazi, Rabbi Yitzchak Chaim ben Jamal, Rabbi Levi Namiash, Rabbi Shalom (Shlomo?) ben Yosef, Rabbi Barzilai HaKohen of Rhodes, Rabbi Yitzchak Faish, Rabbi Chanina Esparial of Izmir.
Background: Rabbi Yitzchak Faish moved from Ashkenaz to Safed. He then moved to Jerusalem where he attached himself to the Sephardic sages. He was loyal to the Sephardic community during the “shaliach u’meshulach” controversy, and here his signature is Sephardic.Rabbi Chanina Esparial was a Safed rabbi who was in Hebron in 1661. He authored novellae on many tractates, and left behind halachic responsa about which he corresponded with Rabbi Aharon ben Chaim and his brother, Rabbi Refael Esparial, a disciple of the Maharit.
Condition: Fine, the addressee’s name is erased [possibly משה מוהר”ר], aging stains, fold marks.