Handwritten Receipt, Signed by Rabbi Yisrael of Shklow – Jerusalem, Tevet 1838 – Following the Safed Earthquake

Handwritten Receipt, Signed by Rabbi Yisrael of Shklow – Jerusalem, Tevet 1838 – Following the Safed Earthquake

Handwritten receipt, with four lines handwritten and signed by R. Yisrael of Shklow, disciple of the Gaon of Vilna and leader of the Perushim community in Eretz Israel. Jerusalem, Tevet 1838.
Written by a scribe (in Oriental, semi-cursive script), with four concluding lines and signature handwritten by R. Yisrael of Shklow (three lines in Ashkenazic Rashi script, signature in Ashkenazic cursive script).
Confirmation of receipt of money ("one thousand five hundred lion dollars") from the funds sent by the philanthropist Yehuda Adutt, through R. Yehuda Alkalai, and transferred by the Rishon LeTzion R. Chaim Gagin, to the Kollel Perushim of Safed.
R. Yisrael added four lines in his handwriting to the receipt: "This is the portion of Kollel Perushim in Safed, signed by Yisrael, author of Taklin Chadtin and Pe'at HaShulchan, official of Kollel Perushim – so says Yisrael author of Taklin Chadtin and Pe'at HaShulchan".

R. Yisrael of Shklow (1770-1839), author of Pe'at HaShulchan. President and founder of the Ashkenazic Perushim settlement in Eretz Israel. Amongst the youngest disciples of the Gaon of Vilna, and disciple of the latter's disciple R. Menachem Mendel of Shklow. He studied under the Torah leaders in Shklow, and was a beloved disciple of the Gaon of Vilna in the final half year of his life (in 1797). He was cherished by the Gaon of Vilna, studied with him and "merited to serve him as a servant in the twenty days before his demise" (Aliyot Eliyahu). He prepared for print and published the commentary of the Gaon of Vilna on Shulchan Aruch, and the glosses of the Gaon of Vilna on Tractate Shekalim, which he published in his book Taklin Chadtin (Minsk, 1812). In his renowned prefaces to his books Taklin Chadtin and Pe'at HaShulchan, he shares a glimpse into the world of his illustrious teacher the Gaon of Vilna and the latter's prominent disciples. In 1810, he headed the second immigration of disciples of the Gaon of Vilna to Eretz Israel, and led the community together with his teacher R. Menachem Mendel of Shklow, who preceded him in immigrating to Eretz Israel. In the plagues of 1813, R. Yisrael lost his entire family: his wife, sons and daughters, son-in-law and grandson. He remarried and established a new family (his son-in-law from his second marriage was R. Yeshaya Bardaki, who succeeded him in leading the Ashkenazi community in Jerusalem, in the mid-19th century). R. Yisrael was the father and patron of the Perushim community, borrowing and raising astronomical sums of money to rescue the community, protecting them from the persecution of the government and the looting and pillaging of the Druze villagers who devastated the Jewish settlements in the Galilee. After the great earthquake in Tevet 1837 which destroyed the Jewish settlement in Safed, R. Yisrael settled in Jerusalem and became the rabbi and leader of the Ashkenazic community in the city. During that time, he devoted himself to the settlement in the Galilee and in Jerusalem, and corresponded amongst others with the Chatam Sofer, who held him in high esteem (the Chatam Sofer would address him in his letters with exceptional titles of honor, see: Encyclopedia LeChachmei Eretz Israel, II, p. 236).
The present receipt is a historic documentation of the activities of R. Yisrael of Shklow for the rehabilitation of the Perushim community in Eretz Israel, in the difficult year following the destruction of Safed in the great earthquake of 1837. R. Yisrael passed away in Sivan 1839, and was buried in the Tiberias ancient cemetery.

[1] double leaf. Approx. 10.5X6.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains and wear. Worming to back leaf (blank).