Shtar HaMiknah L’Makom B’Veit HaKnesset Ohalei Ya’akov L’Kollel Warsaw , with signatures from leading rabbis of Jerusalem, 1863.
In the first line of leading rabbis, leaders of the communities and builders of the Yishuv, Rabbi Meir Auerbach holds an important position. He was known in Jerusalem as the Kalisher Rav, and all sages of his generation trembled before his greatness and his sanctity. He ascended from Kalish to Jerusalem in Tammuz 1860, and immediately after his arrival, on 25 Elul, he became one of the leaders of the Yishuv. In the 18 years he lived in the city, he accomplished a tremendous amount in terms of increasing the status of the Ashkenazic community, and the flourishing of the urban and agricultural Yishuv.
At the height of his activity in Kalish, he got up, took his bag with him, and ascended to the Land of Israel. When he arrived in Jerusalem, he became one of the distinguished leaders of the community, headed by the gaon Rabbi Moshe Yehudah Leib of Kutno, author of Tiferet Yerushalayim , Rabbi Y. Z. Salant, Rabbi Yeshayah Bardaki and Rabbi Shmuel Salant. The first signature therefore was the Rav of Kutno’s. Although he was completely immersed in the four cubits of halachah, he was already quite elderly by then, so he did not become involved in the leadership of the city. He would only teach Torah in his home to talented young men, and the position of the rabbinate was vacant despite this – or perhaps because of this – as among them were expert geonim . This situation prevailed within the community for a period of thirty years, from the day of Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov’s passing. The heads of the congregation deeply felt the lack of a rabbi for the city, both internally and externally, and in the meantime all the rabbis listed above refused to accept this position.
His writings: He left a huge book of responsa entitled Imrei Binah . Rabbi Meir would often adorn the leaves of his sifrei HaAcharonim with many comments.
When Rabbi Shmuel Salant took a trip abroad at the beginning of 1861, he asked Rabbi Meir to take the position of rabbi of the Ashkenazic community and its av beit din , until the day Rabbi Salant returned to the Land of Israel, and Rabbi Meir accepted this responsibility. However, upon his return from abroad in mid-1861, Rabbi Shmuel Salant begged Rabbi Meir to continue with his position, as he had enough of a burden with his teaching and other public needs. Rabbi Meir acquiesced. As mentioned, Rabbi Shmuel Salant agreed to this appointment willingly, and focused his activities in the spiritual and educational fields.
Rabbi Meir settled at the southern end of Rechov HaYehudim, in the courtyard that bears his name. Only a few weeks passed from the day he ascended to Jerusalem, and the seat of the beit din , which until then was in the Churvah courtyard, moved to the Kalisher Rav’s courtyard. In the summer of 1861, he began to build a synagogue in his courtyard. This synagogue was later also known as Chatzer Kollel Warsaw, due to the institutions that operated in it and the people living in it belonging to said kollel. In addition to the synagogue, in 1862 he also established a study hall named ‘Ohel Ya’akov’ after its benefactor – his in-law R’ Yaakov Kappell Yakobovich, and it was identified with him, as well as with Kollel Warsaw. A memorial stone was placed in his name at the entrance of the house.
To increase the income for the establishment of this synagogue, they printed the leaves of the Sefer HaMiknah , by which they sold seats in the synagogue. This leaf attests that the seat on the “south side of the bench in front of the table” was purchased by the gvir Rabbi Eliyahu Drohziner of Warsaw. The primary signatories include: Rabbi Nachum of Shadik [1810-1866, author of Sh”ut Avnei Kodesh ], Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah HaCohen av beit din Zagórów [d. Kislev 1866], Rabbi Yosef son of Rabbi … of Suvalk and the head rabbis, the two founders of the kollel: Rabbi Moshe Yehudah Leib Zilberberg, av beit din of Kutno, author of Zayit Ra’anan , and author of Imrei Binah , and Rabbi Shmuel Salant, with the stamps of the kollel and the beit din .