Tzava’ath Bari [Last Will and Testament]. Manuscript in Hebrew by Yaakov Avraham ben Yehudah Leib Schklifer of Novhardok.

(NOVARDOK).

Novhardok

1844

Title-page surrounded by artistic rendering of roses and grapes. Initial word on first page with wreath flanked by cherubs. Two divisional title-pages. Text within ink-ruled borders. Two wax seals at end: The Community of Novhardok and a personal seal.

This elaborate last will and testament was composed by Yaakov Avraham ben Yehudah Leib Schklifer of Novhardok, a wealthy wine-merchant with property and stores in Novhardok and Vilna. His detailed instructions discuss the disbursement of property, rent and revenue from his stores alongside communal concerns. In addition to arranging to leave funds for the benefit of the various synagogues and societies in his hometown of Novhardok, he especially wished to assist the poor, sick and indigent and provided for medicine, food, tea and candles for those residing in the “hekdesh” (hostel for the poor). He also left funds to the Yeshivoth in Volozhin and Mir. The Rabbi of Novhardok, R. Alexander Ziskind Harkavy and five others sign on ff. 48-9 along with Hebrew and Russian stamps. See M. Markowitz, LeKoroth Ir Novhardok (Warsaw, 1913) p. 11.