Discovery: Rabbi Shmuel Salant's Part in Building the Communities Outside the Walls.

Discovery: Rabbi Shmuel Salant's Part in Building the Communities Outside the Walls.
In the year 1857, at only about 20 years old, R' Yoshe Rivlin founded a society called "Bonei Yerushalayim" with the purpose of building homes outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. Members joined his society, and they began to acquire land and raise funds to build homes, with this project accompanied by Rabbi Shmuel Salant, rabbi of Jerusalem. From the content of the handwritten supplements on the margins of the leaves, his massive part (unknown until now) in both support and financing is clear. From then on, "the walls were breached," and Jewish construction began to spread in all directions, which rescued the old Yishuv. This expansion, with dedication to the goal and with G-d's lovingkindness, was successful.
These are three historic documents about the construction of three neighborhoods, and all three attest to Rabbi Shmuel Salant's membership in the societies.
The first certificate: Regulations of the famous Meah Shearim neighborhood - the fifth neighborhood, founded by the "Meah Shearim" society. Organized in 1874, they immediately began to build homes. It was supervised by R' Yoshe, R' Zalman Bahara"n, and R' Shmuel Hominer and completed in 1879. The document lists the 11 regulations of the "society," with signatures of its members: R' Zalman Bahara"n, R' Avraham Robinson, R' Yeshayah Orenstein, R' Aryeh Leib Horwitz, R' Eliezer Dan Ralba"g, R' Ben-Tziyion Lion, R' Akiva Yosef Goldschmidt, R' Yoel Moshe Salomon, R' Shlomo Zalman Lewin, Moshe Graf of Brinsk, R' Ya'akov Eliezer Reifman and R' Yoshe Rivlin.
This document (no. 121) from Tammuz 1875 attests to R' Shmuel's joining the society, with a detailed handwritten list of the sums of money he paid the society for: acquiring land, building and renovating a house, and until 1879, when he paid for "repairing the house; raising the patio of the garden from the water and flooring the courtyard in front of the entire house." He also donated a respectable sum towards construction of a synagogue.
The second certificate: Regulations of the "Even Yisrael" society, the sixth neighborhood outside the walls, close to the Machaneh Yehudah market (today). The society was founded in 1875. This list of regulations is similar to that of "Meah Shearim." Its administrators were: Meir Mazazil of Chasawitz, Moshe Graf, R' Yehudah Bergman, R' Binyamin Beinish Salant, R' Yehoshua Yellin, R' Avraham Elkanah Zaks and R' Yoshe Rivlin. This contract attests to R' Yehoshua Rivlin joining the society. However, after some time, in Sivan 1877, R' Yellin sold his rights to the houses, the well and the field, to R' Yoshe. Two months later, R' Yoshe sold all these to Rabbi Shmuel Salant!
The third certificate: Regulations of the "Mishkenot Yisrael" society. Together with acquiring the lands for "Even Yisrael," an area was bought for the Mishkenot Yisrael neighborhood (in Nachlaot), while overcoming obstacles accumulated by other potential buyers - primarily Christian associations who had their eyes on the area. The known members of the society included: R' Yoshe Rivlin and R' Yoel Moshe Salomon.
This certificate from 1877 gives Rabbi Salant the right to build a synagogue in the area and contains a list of his payments.
Various sizes. Print on paper, supplemented with may handwritten signatures. Overall fine condition.