(ISRAEL, LAND OF).

Y. Brill

Jerusalem

1862

Goral - Lottery [for the benefit of Yeshivath Etz Chaim to defray costs of purchasing a property, the income of which was intended to support the students of the Yeshivah]. Text in Hebrew and English. With handwritten notation in an Aschkenazic hand and stamp of Yeshivath Etz Chaim.

Shoshana Halevy (no. 93) lists a similar item with a German text but is completely unaware of this English version. She states that one torn copy with the German text existed in the collection of A. R. Malachi. In order to preserve it for posterity, she published a facsimile of the Hebrew page as addendum no. 2 on p. 262 of her book. This lottery was of significance as it engendered a fierce controversy between the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, R. Samuel Salant, his Beth Din, the leaders of the Ashkenazic Perushim and the new administration of Yeshivath Etz Chaim - R. Saul Benjamin Cohen Karelitz (of Radishkovitz), R. Yehuda Leib Ya’avetz (of Kolna), and R. Aryeh Leib Cohen who endorsed this lottery announcement. The administration borrowed money to acquire property which they felt would provide needed revenue from the eventual rental of apartments. This was a revolutionary concept for the time, and not in the spirit of the Chalukah system of the Old Yishuv. At the bottom of this broadside is a statement in German by G. Rosen of the Royal Prussian Consular Office, who confirms that the lottery is not for speculation, but to help the religious youth of Jerusalem who desperately need a proper educational institution. The administration was accused that secular studies would be taught in the new building. A handwritten notation here - “We announce that the curriculum will consist of Gemara, poskim and mefarshim” was obviously written in order to clear up any misunderstanding. Since the announcement was printed in English, it is obvious that the administration wished to raise funds in England and America. See: A. R. Malachi, The Early Beginnings of Yeshiva Etz Chaim in Jerusalem, Talpiyoth, Vol. 9 (Kislev, 1965), pp. 415-32; Perakim be-Toldoth ha-Yishuv ha-Yashan (Jerusalem, 1971), p. 118; A. L. Frumkin, Toldoth Chachmei Yerushalayim, Vol. 3, p. 23.