(Rabbi of Nikolayev, 1814-1890). Autograph Letter Signed. Written in Hebrew to R. Moshe, Dayan of Odessa.

LAVUT, ABRAHAM DAVID.

Erev Shabbos, Parshath Va’eira

Nikolayev

1864

An emotionally charged letter concerning a charlatan “Litvack” who traveled through the Crimea masquerading as an emissary from Hebron, fraudulently collecting funds based upon forged testimonial letters. “I discovered he is a scoundrel without Tzitzith or Tephilin… I hear he is now in Odessa… I am certain your honor will prevent this criminal from continuing in his nefarious path. Before he fled from here, he took 82 rubles from the children of the well-known patron Rafalalovitch.”

R. Abraham David Lavut was the maternal grandfather of the last Grand Rabbi of Lubavitch, R. Menachem Mendel Schneerson. A student of the Tzemach Tzedek, R. Lavut authored the acclaimed Sha’ar HaKollel, an invaluable appendix to the Siddur of R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi and served for forty years as rabbi of the Russian community of Nikolayev. See M.M. Laufer, Yemei Melech (1991) pp. 39-55.