Lezecher Olam Yihyeh Tzaddik [memorial tablet].

(AMERICAN JUDAICA).

26th Tammuz

Cincinnati

1889

Large manuscript leaf written by Moshe b. Yoseph Halevi Sofer of Nowinka in fine square and cursive Ashkenazic scripts in different sizes. Dense text within geometric borders, centering upon the deceased’s headstone surrounded by trees, deer and the six Orders of the Mishnah.

A most unusual calligraphic production: A biography of Rabbi Shachna Isaacs, composed by Chazan Judah Kaletsky, both men servants to the religious needs of the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. Born in 1813 in Poland, Shachna Isaacs immigrated to America in 1847. He rose to become one of the standard bearers of Orthodoxy in Cincinnati where he built a synagogue and mikvah and stood firm against inroads of the Reform Movement. This memorial sheet recounts aspects of the Rabbi’s life including his financing of a convert’s travel expenses to Kovno in order to study under the supervision of R. Isaac Elchanan.