(Rabbi of Slutsk and Safed, 1845-1914). Autograph Letter Signed, written in Hebrew, with his stamp.

RIDVAZ, YAAKOV DAVID.

Safed

(c. 1910)

Concerning his work on Shemitah which “the Rabbis and Hahamim of Jerusalem put the burden upon my shoulders to write” in order to clarify the difficult laws of Shemitah. “All the newspaper have already written about the importance of this work. I am sure that your honor [no name] will help shoulder the burden of supporting the holiness of Shevi’ith in the Holy Land …funds may be remitted to Rabbi Yisroel Ya’akov Jaffe (of Manchester).

R. Yaakov David (Wilowsky) Ridvaz had a deep disagreement with Rav Kook over the appropriate methods by which the new agricultural colonies of Eretz Israel should observe the Shemitah year. The “Ridvaz” aspired to promote the full observance of Shemitah without relying on extreme leniencies. In 1910 he published his work Halachah LeMa’aseh concerning fruits grown during Shemitah. Apparently this letter accompanied the work. “Please receive this work with the love of the Torah.” The halachic dispute between the Ridvaz and Rav Kook developed into a major rabbinic controversy and reflected the rivalry and opposing outlooks of the Old Yishuv and the New settlement population arriving to the Land of Israel.