"My Wife Sheindel has Converted to the Religion of Ishmael" – a Special Document about the Rescue of a Jewess from ...

"My Wife Sheindel has Converted to the Religion of Ishmael" – a Special Document about the Rescue of a Jewess from the Hands of Gentiles – a Fascinating, Unknown Affair – Jerusalem, 1851
A fascinating document by Reb Shabtai Shimshon Ha'levi of Brisk, a resident of Jerusalem, about his wife Sheindel who converted to Islam. In the document he refers to her rescue from the Arabs! A special historical story that had been unknown until now.
"Since my wife Sheindel has converted to the religion of Ishmael I want to give her a Gett (divorce certificate) by an emissary so I will be able to marry another woman and so I will not spoil the efforts to rescue her from the gentiles … I accept … everything that will be ordered by the appointed rabbis and Dayanim … Nissan 5611 [1851]". His signature: "Shabtai Shimshon of Brisk Ha'Levi".
The husband's name "Shabtai Shimshon of Brisk" is known from another affair that occurred almost fifteen years later. In 1865, when there was an outbreak of Cholera in Jerusalem, Reb Shabtai Shimshon Ha'Levi of Brisk was its first victim of the Ashkenazic community. He died painfully on the 17th of Tishrei, 7.10.1865, as indicated by the notebook of the Ashkenazic Chevra Kadisha of Jerusalem.
Reb Shabtai died young at the age of 55 years old after living a bitter and sorrowful life. The special document before us reveals a small fraction of his hard life and teaches us about the difficult situation of the Jews of Jerusalem in those days.
Reb Shabtai's father, Reb Baruch Moshe, immigrated to the Land of Israel with the disciples of the Vilna Gaon in 1831. Reb Baruch was a very rich man and he brought his fortune with him to the Land of Israel. He was so rich that during his daughter's wedding, which took place in Safed, all the dishes were made of silver!
In 1834, during the rebellion of the Arab farmers, the Jews of Safed escaped to the nearby mountains and villages. Among them was Reb Baruch Moshe, who left all his fortune behind to be stolen by the rioters. It was difficult for Reb Baruch Moshe to see the misery of his impoverished family and a short time afterwards, he died.
In 1837, an earthquake destroyed Safed. Approximately two thousand Jews were killed. The house of Reb Baruch Moshe's family was destroyed and a few of his sons were badly injured. They decided to leave Safed and move to Jerusalem.
Reb Shabtai Shimshon, who was born in 1811, also moved to Jerusalem and his financial situation was bad. In circa 1835, he had married Sheindel and the following year, their first son was born and was called after his father: Baruch Moshe.
Several years later, Sheindel, in despair because of all the troubles she and her family had encountered, converted to Islam, maybe hoping to better her situation. She left her family and moved to live among the Arabs. Her husband, Reb Shabtai Shimshon, was shocked by her actions; yet, tried different ways to rescue her and return her home, as mentioned by the document before us. At the same time, he also asked to send her a Gett so that he will be able to remarry and turn over a new leaf.
The special document before us is a single testimony of this tragic story. The Rabbis of Jerusalem ordered the husband to sign a document stating that he will be cautious in his attempts to divorce his wife so that he will not eliminate the possibility of rescuing her. The rabbis ask him to be careful "not to spoil the efforts to rescue her from the gentiles". The husband indeed agreed to limit his desire to give her the Gett, understanding the important benefit of her returning home.
The rabbis preferred the option of the wife returning home rather than that of giving her a Gett because they perceived her conversion not only as tragic harm to the small family but also as moral harm to the complete Ashkenazic community of Jerusalem! Indeed, during those difficult years of starvation and diseases there were additional cases of conversion, although usually it was conversion to Christianity rather than Islam like the unique case before us.
Two witnesses signed the document.
20 cm.
Condition: Good. Folding marks.