A legal document of the Ashkenazi Kolelot, signed by the British consul James Finn - a historical document about ...

A legal document of the Ashkenazi Kolelot, signed by the British consul James Finn - a historical document about the building of the 'Hurva' Synagogue in Jerusalem – 1849
A legal document of the Ashkenazi Kolelot, signed by the British Consul James Finn. A historical document about the building of the 'Hurva' synagogue in Jerusalem – 1849
A legal document from 1849, between Rachel Amzaleg and the Ashkenazi Kolelot in Jerusalem. The document determines that all claims will be clarified according to "Judges of Israel". The document is signed by the British consul James Finn and the stamp of the British consulate.
The story behind this ancient document is the building of the synagogue in the yard of the 'Hurva' in Jerusalem.
For building the synagogue, the heads of the Prushim Kolel took, in 1849, from the Sephardi rich man, Yosef Amzaleg (the husband of Rachel, who is mentioned in the document), a huge loan of 3,000 Adumim Zahav, which are 150,000 Grush, for paying the old debts of the Kolel and preparing a financial infrastructure for the day the building of the synagogue will be enabled.
The Prushim complied with all the requirements Amzaleg posed for receiving the loan, including mortgaging the yard of the 'Hurva' to ensure the payment of the loan and payment of 9 percent of annual interest – 270 Adumim Zahav. The treasurers of the building of the synagogue succeeded in repaying the loan to the Amzaleg Family only towards the dedication of the synagogue in 1864.
This historical document was published by the historian Pinchas Grayevsky in his booklet 'Zichronot Kdumim' (early memories), Jerusalem 1928, p. 5. The booklet published another ten important documents related to the issue.
James Finn (1806-1872) was the British consul in Jerusalem during the 19th century. He helped Jews settle in the Land of Israel. He wrote about the Jews' history, was familiar with the Hebrew language and even published a book which describes in detail the situation of the Jewish settlement in Israel. His house in the 'Kerem Avraham' neighborhood in Jerusalem is still standing.
20X15 cm.
Very good condition. Folding marks and a few stains.
An extremely rare document!