(Igroth Shada’r).

(ISRAEL, LAND OF).

Jerusalem

Kislev, 1830

Letters Signed in Hebrew, written in a cursive Aschkenazic hand on paper. Approx. 114 letters. All signed by the most prominent leaders of the Old Yishuv (see below).

A large collection of letters, each signed by the Leaders of the Aschkenazic Community in the Land of Israel, 1830. Written by several scribes, on various sized pages, the letters represent a request for monetary support for the communities established by the disciples of the Gaon of Vilna in Jerusalem and Safed. The letters were to be taken by the emissary (Shada’r, i.e. shelucha d’rabanan - rabbinical agent) Tzvi Hirsch ben Yehudah on his travels overseas to collect funds. A blank space was left on each leaf to fill in the name of the recipient of the letter. The context of the letter extols the virtue of the Yishuv and the importance of the study of Torah. Each of these hundred plus letters bears the original signature of the most prominent leaders of the Old Yishuv, including: * R. Chaim of Pinsk. * R. Israel of Shklov. * R. Aryeh Leib ben Yoseph Leon. * R. Shlomo Zalman ben Zev Wolf HaKohen. * R. Nathan Nota ben R. Menachem Mendel. * R. Nathan Nota ben R. Sa’adiya. * R. Aryeh ben Yerachmiel Ne’eman. It would appear that the emissary never left on his journey, hence the abundance of these unused letters.