Auction 097 Winner's Unlimited - Holy books, letters from Rabbis and Rebbes, Judaica, Posters & Periodicals, Postcards, Maps, Zionism, numismatics.
Jan 31, 2017
Israel

The auction has ended

LOT 48:

Important historic document regarding British intervention in the Yom Kippur prayers at the Western Wall and ...

catalog
  Previous item
Next item 
Sold for: $150
Start price:
$ 150
Estimated price:
$300 - $400
Auction house commission: 20%
VAT: 17% On commission only
Users from foreign countries may be exempted from tax payments, according to the relevant tax regulations
tags:

Important historic document regarding British intervention in the Yom Kippur prayers at the Western Wall and arrangements at the Kotel. Tishrei, 1928. Rare
Letter of request presented by the Zionist Organization, as the Jewish Agency in Palestine, to the general secretary of the League of Nations for perusual by the Permanent Mandates Commission, October 1928.
[4] pages. 22x31 cm. Two title pages. Hebrew and English.
At the height of Yom Kippur 1929, British officers interrupted the prayers at the Western Wall, started beating worshippers and removed the mechitza separating the men and women's gallery. In the wake of this episode, the leaders of the Zionist Organization turned to the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations, asking for their involvement in events at the Western Wall. The Zionist Organization used interesting terminology when explaining the significance of the Western Wall and the sacred day, "It is necessary to explain that Yom Kippur is the most sacred day of the year for the Jews, and the shemona esrei prayer, when the event with the police occurred, is the most significant prayer of all the prayers of the day. The Western Wall is the most sacred location of the Jewish Nation since the destruction of the Holy Temple..." At this opportunity, they also complained about the crowded conditions in front of the Western Wall and the humilation they received from members of other nations. "In addition, the Jewish Nation believes that the Permanent Mandates Commission will recognize that it conflicts with their philosophy and spoken expressions to limit the Jewish worshippers to a narrow alley (28 meters long and 3.6 meters wide - parentheses in the original), including the fact that on the nearby grounds stands some poor buildings that belong to the wakf, though they do not have any sacred significance. Many poor people live in crowded conditions in these apartments, and enter and leave them through the small space set aside for Jewish worshippers,while holding loads on their shoulders, and often passing through with loading donkeys."
The document is signed [in print] F. H. Kisch, president of the Histadrut.
Cololen Fredrick Herman Kisch [1888-1943] was a British officer in his youth. In 1922, he joined the Zionist administration, and from 1923-1929, was the leader of the political department of the Zionist administration in Jerusalem. Due to his background in the British army, he was in contact with the British on a number of subjects. He is primarily known for his citizenship law, which granted citizenship to Jewish immigrants. He initiated the law with the collaboration of the British.
The National Library has a number of memos sent on behalf of the Jewish Agency to the general secretary of the League of Nations [primarily regarding the foundation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine]. However, this document that was written and sent in the wake of the event at the Kotel, is very rare and not in the library.
Stains, fine condition. 

catalog
  Previous item
Next item