Letter from Rabbi Rephael Della Pergola, Rabbi of Alexandria, Egypt, Sent to the Rabbi of Florence. Alexandria, 1922

Letter from Rabbi Rephael Della Pergola sent to Rabbi Shmuel Tzvi Margaliot, asking for an opinion about a halachic decision involving marital harmony given in Alexandria, Egypt. Alexandria, 1922.

Summary of the request: A daughter-in-law suffered greatly from her mother-in-law, which caused her to leave her husband a number of times. The husband asked the rabbi to obligate his wife to return. The woman asked beit din to obligate her husband to rent an apartment or a room outside of her mother-in-law's home for her use. "Because life with her mother-in-law is no life, she bothers her with her words and pains her ... from the first days of the marriage she cursed her ... she is jealous because her husband loves her ... and she triggers disagreements between her and her husband." Rabbi Rephael wrote, "I tried to find a peaceful way, as well as I could, and did not succeed, so I was forced to convene a beit din." The dayanim decided that the husband must rent an apartment for his wife within fifteen days, "so that he can live with her a life of love and serenity, and not a bitter life of arguments." The decision was sent to Rabbi Shmuel Tzvi Margaliot so that he could offer his opinion on it.

6 leaves, ink on paper. The first two pages are on stationery of the Beit Din Tzedek in Alexandria. Very fine condition.