Emissary Letter Sent to Calcutta – Jerusalem, 1859 – Signed by the Gaon of Kutno Author of Zayit Raanan, Rabbi ...

Emissary Letter Sent to Calcutta – Jerusalem, 1859 – Signed by the Gaon of Kutno Author of Zayit Raanan, Rabbi Yitzchak David of Lelov, Rabbi Nachum of Shadek and Rabbi Yaakov Leib Levi
Letter sent to Calcutta, regarding the emissary of Kollel Polin in India, with the signatures of four Jerusalem Torah leaders: the Gaon of Kutno author of Zayit Raanan, R. Yitzchak David son of Rebbe Moshe of Lelov, and the holy brothers R. Nachum of Shadek and R. Yaakov Yehuda Leib Levi-Weissfish. Jerusalem, [1859].
Addressed to the magnate David Yosef Ezra, a prominent philanthropist in Calcutta, India, in preparation for the arrival of R. Yaakov Eliezer, emissary of Kollel Warsaw, who would be travelling to Indian cities, raising funds for the building of a synagogue and study hall for the Torah scholars of Kollel Warsaw. Kollel Warsaw was at that time one of the new Kollelim in Jerusalem, established following the large wave of immigration from Poland in the 1840s-1850s. The founders and administrators of the Kollel were the leading Torah scholars originating from Poland, signatories of this letter. Due to the difficult conditions which prevailed in those days, establishing the Kollel necessitated overcoming numerous hurdles, as the rabbis relate in this letter. They describe the absence of a permanent location for their outstanding Torah scholars to study and pray in, unlike other Kollelim who each have their own institutions. They explain that a suitable location was found and secured, but large sums of money are needed to finalize the acquisition.
The rabbis write that they sent a special emissary to India, and that this letter is an introduction to the letters the emissary would be carrying with him.
At the beginning of the letter, the rabbis mention that they pray regularly on behalf of their donors, especially at holy sites in Eretz Israel, such as the Kotel and Kever Rachel.
This letter constitutes an interesting historic document recording the development of the Old Yishuv in Jerusalem. The establishment of the Ashkenazi settlement was the product of a complex and protracted process of setting up institutions for prayer, Torah study and charity, alongside the construction of new apartment buildings and neighborhoods. These enterprises were coordinated by the Kollelim, which were comprised of natives of their respective communities in Europe, with each community providing for the needs of their senior and newly arrived immigrants. The Kollel administered donations received from its country of origin, and these served as the basis for the existence and development of the Kollelim and their institutions. Kollel Warsaw (later renamed Kupat Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess – Kollel Polin) was founded slightly later, while several both major and smaller Kollelim were already functioning in Jerusalem. In the 1840-1850s, immigration from Poland increased, creating the need for an independent framework, which resulted in the founding of Kollel Warsaw – eventually one of the most prominent Kollelim in the city.
The four signatories on the letter:
The Gaon of Kutno, R. Moshe Yehuda Leib Zylberberg (1798-1865) author of Zayit Raanan and Tiferet Yerushalayim. A prominent Torah leader of the generation in Poland, he served as rabbi of various Polish cities, notably of Kutno, by which he was known for posterity. He immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1857, and was one of the leading rabbis in Jerusalem. While still in Poland he edified many disciples, and many Polish rabbis and rebbes were his students. In Jerusalem, he devoted his entire day to Torah study, bedecked in Tallit and Tefillin. The exceptional Talmudic lectures he delivered in his home were attended by many of Jerusalem's students. The Gaon of Kutno would deliver two lectures daily: one in the morning, on the Talmud with the Rashi and Tosafot commentaries, and one in the evening on halachic literature. He was recognized as one of the foremost Torah scholars in the city, and earned the title of Mara D'Ara DeYisrael (Rabbi of Eretz Israel), as he led the city together with R. Shmuel Salant and R. Meir Auerbach the Imrei Bina, who had immigrated from Kalisch three years after him.
R. Yitzchak David Biederman (1815-1886, Encyclopedia L'Chassidut, II, p. 402), son of Rebbe Moshe of Lelov. He immigrated to Jerusalem in 1851, and stood for many years at the helm of the Chassidic settlement in the city, together with his brother Rebbe Elazar Menachem Mendel. He was one of the founders of Kollel Polin, and of the Chayei Olam yeshiva, together with his sons-in-law R. Binyamin Leib Bernstein and R. Avraham Eliezer Münzberg Rabbi of Józefów.
R. Nachum Rabbi of Shadek (1813-1868) was the son of R. Moshe Avraham Levi-Weissfish and a disciple of the Chemdat Shlomo – a leading Torah scholar in Poland, who granted him rabbinical ordination at the age of 18. He served as rabbi of Shadek (Szadek), Poland for a few years, and immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1843 together with his two brothers, R. Asher Lemel Rabbi of Gołyń and R. Yaakov Yehuda Leib, following a dream all three of them dreamt separately, instructing them to immigrate to Eretz Israel. In Jerusalem, he would sit for the main part of the day bedecked with Tallit and Tefillin, learning with great diligence. He founded Yeshivat HaRan, where he delivered scholarly lectures to the leading young Torah scholars of Jerusalem. He studied Kabbalah together with R. Yosef Zundel of Salant under the kabbalist R. Yehuda HaKohen. He passed away in a Cholera epidemic in 1868 and the epitaph on his grave in the Mount of Olives reads: "A holy and pure man, at the age of eight he began searching for G-d and devoted his whole life to Torah, fasts and ascetism. He studied Torah without respite, day and night. He merited to learn and teach, and edified many disciples… A pious and modest man…".
His brother, R. Yaakov Yehuda Leib Levi (1813-1889), head of the Jerusalem Beit Din for over forty years. An outstanding scholar in revealed and esoteric realms of the Torah, a holy kabbalist. He served as rabbi of Sleshin (Ślesin), and later immigrated to Jerusalem in 1843 together with his two brothers, R. Asher Lemel Rabbi of Gołyń and R. Nachum Rabbi of Shadek. He authored Beit L'Avot on Pirkei Avot.
[1] leaf, thin, blueish stationery. 27.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Folding marks and creases. Small holes from ink corrosion. On verso – address, French postage stamp, and postmarks.
This letter was published in Moriah (issue 351-352, Kislev 2010, pp. 52-55).