Rare! Letter by the Aderet, from the Short period He Served as the Rabbi of Jerusalem! Written on His Official ...

Rare! Letter by the Aderet, from the Short period He Served as the Rabbi of Jerusalem! Written on His Official Statinery – [1903]^
A letter handwritten and signed by Rabbi Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Te'omim, [Jerusalem], Shevat [1903]. Addressed to Rabbi Yosef Ha'Levi, the rabbi of the winery of Rishon Le'Zion, about rendering wine bottles kosher for Passover.

Rareness: We do not known of additional letters by the Aderet from this period, especially on his official stationery with his logo: "Rav Le'Adat Ashkenazim Perushim". An extremely rare item!

Rabbi Eliyahu David Rabinowitz Te'omin (the Aderet) was the rabbi of Ponovezh and Mir in Lithuania. He was known as one of the geniuses of the generation. Authored more than a hundred compositions, some of which have still not been printed.

When he received the offer of the Ashkenazic community of Jerusalem to serve as its rabbi instead of Rabbi Shmuel Salant who was very old (with Rabbi Salant's agreement and recommendation), he accepted the offer and on the 26th of Adar 1906 immigrated to the Land of Israel to serve as the rabbi of Jerusalem. In the reception that was held for him, Rabbi Salant announced that he was giving the Aderet the crown of the rabbinate; however, the Aderet rejected it immediately and refused to replace Rabbi Salant. Rather, he agreed to be the rabbi of Jerusalem with him. Thus, both of them managed the public affairs of Jerusalem and we find both their signatures on proclamations from those days. As part of his job, the Aderet addressed questions about Mitzvot Ha'Tluyot Ba'Aretz (Mitzvahs that can be observed only in the Land of Israel), which were sent to him by the new settlements that still did not have rabbis of their own, as we see in the rare letter before us.

According to his instructions, Rabbi Michel Tikuchinsky, who was then a young yeshiva student, set up a calendar which was updated according to the horizon of Jerusalem.

The Aderet served as the rabbi of Jerusalem for only two years. Unfortunately, he died at a relatively young age (when the old Rabbi Shmuel Salant was still alive!) and was buried on the Mount of Olives near the grave of the Maharal Diskin. Before his death, he ordered his son that after his death, he should be called only a Jew who" all his life wanted to be a kosher Jew". His son-in-law was Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Ha'Cohen Kook, who was the rabbi of Jerusalem since 1920.

Condition: Good. Slight tears.