Bidspirit auction | Eighty Years of Jewish Life

Eighty Years of Jewish Life in Tzfas Large Archive of Historical Letters and Documents 19th Century * An extensive archive of more than 1,000 pages , containing letters from the leading personalities of the Chassidic community in Tzfas and its sister community in Teveria, as well as dozens of lists with thousands of names of donors and recipients, and also a list of hundreds of towns abroad that rallied to assist their brethren living in the Holy Land. Some of the letters are addressed directly to the home of the Admor Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vizhnitz, author of Tzemach Tzaddik, and to his well-known trusted aide, Rabbi Moshe Brumer. In the middle of the eighteenth century, the disciples of the Baal Shem Tov began to make aliyah to the Holy Land. In the years that followed, the Jewish community in Tzfas flourished, and in the nineteenth century, Tzfas was the largest Jewish community after Yerushalayim! The Chassidic community comprised the majority of the Jews in Tzfas, and gradually many Chassidic synagogues — kloizen — were established, among them Avritsch, Tolna, Kossov, Karov, Chernobyl, Chortkov, Sanz, Karlin, Radovitz, Trisk, Vizhnitz, Otinya, Sadigura, Bohush, Shtefanesht, Ziditchov, Bender, Chabad, and others. The lion’s share of the Tzfas Jewish community’s livelihood came from donations sent from abroad, known as the ”chaluka (distribution) funds.” The manner in which the donations were collected and distributed is a broad historical subject; for our purposes, we will briefly summarize the course of the chaluka funds during the period relevant to this unique archive. Kollel Ostreich was composed of three independent kollelim: Vizhnitz, under the leadership of the Admor Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vizhnitz; Lvov, under the leadership of Rabbi Yitzchak Aharon Ittinga, Av Beis Din of Lvov; and Kossov, under the leadership of the Admor Rabbi Yaakov Shimshon of Kossov. The presidents would collect the monies of the tzedakah boxes that were dispersed throughout towns, either by receiving them directly or through emissaries who were sent to hundreds of communities to gather the funds donated into the tzedakah boxes of Rabbi Meir Ba'al HaNes. Four times a year, the presidents would transfer all the funds to the appointed administrators in Eretz Yisrael, who would distribute the support according to a detailed list, and would send official receipts to the presidents for every sum they received. The division of the kollelim into different districts also caused a division of hearts, and from time to time severe disputes arose regarding the methods of distribution, and in particular, protests were raised against unjust distribution and discrimination, and against the harsh and arbitrary control of the administrators and overseers of the kollelim over the financial resources upon which the entire life of the community depended, with the power in their hands to determine “who would live and who would die.” Clear traces of these disputes concerning the chaluka funds and the administrators are clearly evident in the letters preserved in this archive. Among the writers of the letters are: · Rabbi Moshe Brumer, scribe and trusted aide of the Admor Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vizhnitz, author of Tzemach Tzaddik; · Rabbi Moshe Charag , the legendary and well-known administrator of Kollel Vizhnitz in Tzfas; · Rabbi Todros (Geiger), son-in-law of Rabbi Moshe Charag; and · Rabbi Itamar son of Rabbi Tzvi Zev Herman of Seret, administrator of Kollel Ostreich from 1834 until 1907, consul and representative of the Austrian government, and among the prominent chassidim of Vizhnitz, father-in-law of Rabbi Nachum Etrog, Ra'avad of the Ashkenazic community in Tzfas. The archive spans eighty years, from 1861 until the closing years of the nineteenth century, and is a treasure trove of history documenting the lives of the Chassidic community in Tzfas.