Bidspirit auction | A Cry from Chevron —

A Cry from Chevron — The Shlichus of the Chid”a Livorno, 1775 — a unique a single-leaf proclamation A printed כרוז issued on behalf of the Jewish community of Chevron, following a terrible libel by the local ruler after his son fell into a Jewish outhouse and died. The community was placed in immediate danger of destruction. To raise the enormous ransom demanded to save the kehilla, the community appointed R’ Chaim Yosef Dovid Azulai — the Chid”a — who at that time was already serving as shadar of Chevron in Italy, a mission he had begun in 1772. Printed in Livorno in 1775 — this appears to be the only edition of this single-leaf broadside. Among the signatories are R’ Mordechai Rubiyo, Baal Shemen HaMor, one of the geonei Chevron, and his son R’ Avraham Rubiyo, son-in-law of R’ Avraham Gershon of Kitov, brother-in-law of the Baal Shem Tov. The language of the proclamation is a heart-rending cry to the kehillos of Europe: “Leaders of Klal Yisroel, rachmanim bnei rachmanim, bearers of the banner of Torah, anshei chessed, yirei Elokim, baalei mitzvos and tzedakah… a קול נהי is heard; whoever hears it will weep. All of Beis Yisroel should cry and lament the bitter calamity that has befallen us… We sent our faithful emissary, the great and holy Rav, R’ Chaim Yosef Dovid Azulai, to plead on our behalf. Yet new troubles eclipsed the old. A Turkish official, son of the governor, while walking outside, stumbled and fell into the Jewish latrine (outhouse), whose opening had been covered in a field. The opening was exposed, he fell in, drowned, and died. The Turks found him there and sought to swallow and destroy, young and old, women and children, in a single day… We decreed a fast, we sat and wept, and our cries rose to Heaven. The governor finally agreed to spare us in exchange for an enormous sum — and we were forced to pawn all our seforim…” A chilling and rare historical document of the dangers faced by the yishuv in Chevron, and of the life-saving shlichus of the Chid”a on their behalf.