A Rare and Singular Historical Document: The Appointment Letter of Rabbi Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld to the Rabbinate of ...

The appointment letter from the leaders of the "Ashkenazi Community Council" appointing Rabbi Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld as the Rabbi of Jerusalem. With many signatures of prominent rabbis of Jerusalem, righteous individuals, Kabbalists, and community leaders, heads of the "Ashkenazi Community Council."

"We urgently need a person who has the spirit to stand in the breach for spiritual matters in general and in particular, and to ensure the unity and connection of the hearts of the people of Israel to our Father in Heaven, we found it necessary to appoint a rabbi and leader who will bear the burden of the public. We found that the esteemed Rabbi Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld, may he live, is fit to take on this responsibility..."

Among the signatories on the appointment letter are:

1. The Kabbalist and wonder-worker Rabbi Israel Moshe Rosental [5627-5700]: He learned from the Maharil Diskin and more. He gained renown as a Kabbalist and an exemplary figure. His father, Rabbi Zvi Dov, ascended from Warsaw to Israel on the advice of his teacher, the Chidishay HaRim.

2. Rabbi Joshua Eliezer Gutterman [5613-5704], ascended to Israel in his youth. His son-in-law was Rabbi Avraham Eliezer Mintzberg, the Av Beit Din of Jozefow (son-in-law of the Rebbe Rabbi Yitzchak Dov of Lelov, son of the Rebbe Rabbi Moshe of Lelov, and grandson of the Holy Jew). Known as a diligent and distinguished Torah scholar, his brother-in-law was Rabbi Eliezer Zelig Lider, also among the signatories. His father, Rabbi Yisrael Dovid Guterman, was a prominent Hasidic figure in Poland and one of the close associates of the holy Admor Rabbi Yehoshua Asher Rabinowitz of Przysucha.

3. Rabbi Zelig Azriel Lieder [Tiberias, ca. 1872 – 1938]: Resided in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood in Jerusalem, actively involved in assisting refugees from the Kishinev pogroms (1903), protecting the Jews of Hebron (1911), served as a patron of the Diskin Orphanage, and worked to release its students who were conscripted by the Ottomans under duress (1913). In 1914, he participated in drafting a joint statement in the committee for "bringing hearts closer between Muslims and Jews." He passed away in mysterious circumstances, found in the waters of the Yarkon River in critical condition, and shortly thereafter, he passed away in the hospital. The circumstances of his death remain a mystery to this day.

Yigal Arnon, one of Israel's senior attorneys, was his grandson (passed away in 2014). He recounted, "One of the memorable experiences from my early childhood is the visits to Grandpa Zelig Lider and Grandma Yochved in their home in Jerusalem. We would come to the family during holidays, play 'Pinnionis, ' with cubes, and 'Dods'—everything that children play in a Jerusalem courtyard. During Sukkot, all the family's children would gather and prepare decorations for the sukkah. One Sukkot, I slept with my grandfather in the sukkah. Suddenly, a heavy rainstorm came, and Grandpa and I woke up and ran to the house. I remember it as if it were today. My grandfather was an amazing man, a businessman, a public figure, and a wise scholar, always dressed in exceptional attire. He had a great love for religion. I was educated by him to view religion as something noble" (Rabbi Nitzar, "Grandchildren are Joy, " Globes, June 6, 2007).

4. Rabbi Amram Blau (Bluoi; ca.1900–1974), a leader and founder of Neturei Karta movement. He became known for his dissenting approach and uncompromising opposition to Zionism and the State of Israel.

5. Rabbi David Halevi Jungreis (1898–1971), a prominent rabbinical judge of the ultra-Orthodox community in Jerusalem from 1968–1971.

6. The righteous Kabbalist Rabbi Menachem Manis Schienberger (5603-5659], author of "Tikkun Shabbat" and was a disciple of Maharam Shick, the "Katav Sofer, " and Rabbi Hillel of Kolomyya. He ascended from Hungary to Jerusalem in 5627. His rabbi, the "Katav Sofer, " wrote a letter to the management of the Ungvar Kollel, stating that "he is a great God-fearing individual." Among the early settlers in Petach Tikva, where he resided for a year and a half, he was a prominent figure among the zealous circles in Jerusalem and close to the followers of Maharil Diskin.

The period of controversy over the rabbinate of Jerusalem and the appointment of HaRav Kook:

After the heads of institutions and yeshivas, along with most of the rabbis of Jerusalem, chose HaRav Kook to be the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem in (1919), Rabbi Zonnenfeld and Rabbi Yitzhak Yerucham Diskin did not accept the decision. Rabbi Zonnenfeld continued to refer to HaRav Kook as "the Rabbi of Jaffa." In the same year, he headed the founders of the "Ashkenazi Community Council, " which separated from the rabbinate of Jerusalem, and was elected to be its first rabbi. He struggled against the authority of the rabbinate, headed by HaRav Kook, and tried to act with the British Mandate authorities to get them to oppose the appointment of HaRav Kook.

Before us is a unique and unprecedented historical item in the annals of the Jewish community in Jerusalem including the controversy surrounding the rabbinate there!