Bidspirit auction | Forceful letter of protest to

Forceful letter of protest to the Rabbanim and Gabbaim of the Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes charity funds in America, from the Geonim Rabbi Shmuel Salant and Rabbi Itzele Blazer. Jerusalem, 1905. Controversy of “Kollel America.” “Look with compassionate eyes upon twenty thousand souls of your brethren, your own flesh, dwelling in the Holy Lands.” Letter bearing the signatures of HaGaon Rabbi Shmuel Salant and HaGaon Rabbi Yitzchak Blazer, addressed to the heads and Gabbaim of the charity funds of those dwelling in the lands of America and Canada, regarding the distribution of their donations between the immigrants from America and the poor of Eretz Yisrael. Jerusalem, 29 Kislev 1905. [1] leaf, official stationery of HaGaon Rabbi Shmuel Salant. With his signature stamp and seal, and with the original handwritten signature of HaGaon Rabbi Itzele Blazer and his seal. In the letter, the Rabbanim protest the attempt to alter the written agreement regarding the distribution of funds arriving from America, according to which the monies were to be divided such that two-thirds would go to all the Kollelim of the residents of the cities of Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias, and Hebron, numbering 20,000 souls, and one-third for the people of America, numbering approximately 400 souls — such that the Bnei Kollel of America already receive more than the members of the other Kollelim. “And now we have heard rumors that the Kollel America boasts publicly of renewing quarrels and disputes, and of nullifying this fair agreement, seeking two-thirds for the people of America… Look with compassionate eyes upon twenty thousand souls of your brethren, your own flesh, dwelling in the Holy Lands, whose bitter fate, poverty, and destitution at all times cannot be measured or described by the pen of a scribe, and especially in this bitter time, when the income from the lands of Russia and Poland has almost entirely ceased because of the suffering of our brethren there — may Hashem have mercy — and Jerusalem is now considered a devastated city, for a faithful source of sustenance has ceased, and the eyes of the poor of the Holy Land are lifted toward your kindness and charity. Do not allow the meager and thin piece of bread to be cut off from the mouths of the poor of the כלל of the Holy Land. This is your obligation, and please act to uphold the aforementioned compromise for another three years beginning from the year 1906 for good, namely: that two-thirds of the income of the Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes funds shall reach the treasury of the Vaad HaKlali for the support of the poor of our entire Holy Land, and one-third shall be given to the people of America in Eretz HaKodesh… Thus pray the pained and sighing ones who await the redemption and look toward salvation, praying for your welfare and benefit, Shmuel Salant, Yitzchak Blazer, formerly Rav in Petersburg.” Background: In the 1860s and 1870s, with the growth of the Jewish community in Jerusalem, it split into many “Kollelim.” In order to strengthen unity, the “Vaad HaKlali L'Kol HaKollelim HaAshkenazim” was founded in 1866, including both Perushim and Chasidim, in order to supervise all communal needs and represent the community before the Ottoman authorities. In 1896, the “Kollel America V'Tiferes Yerushalayim” was established in Jerusalem due to claims that the Vaad HaKlali discriminated against their share of the distribution funds. As a result, a fierce controversy arose in Jerusalem and America between supporters of the new Kollel, among them Maran Maharil Diskin, and its opponents, among them Maran HaGaon Rabbi Shmuel Salant, who feared that the establishment of the Kollel would lead to a reduction of donations from America to the other Kollelim, destroy the unity that had been achieved, and bring ruin upon the entire settlement. HaGaon Rabbi Itzele Blazer (1837–1907), Av Beis Din of Petersburg, author of “Pri Yitzchak, ” the foremost disciple of HaGaon Rabbi Yisrael Salanter and chief disseminator of the Mussar movement of his Rebbe, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, ascended to Eretz Yisrael in 1904 and devoted himself to communal work in the Vaad HaKlali in Jerusalem. HaGaon HaKadosh Rabbi Shmuel Salant , Rav of Jerusalem (1816–1909) — renowned from his youth and swiftly recognized as one of the Gedolei Torah of the generation. Son-in-law of HaGaon HaKadosh Rabbi Yosef Zundel of Salant, founder of the Mussar movement, and the foremost disciple of Rabbi Avraham Abba Posweler of Vilna. For many decades, he served as Rav, Halachic authority, Posek, and leader of the Ashkenazic community in Jerusalem, and was recognized as the central authority through whom all communal and individual matters were decided. Stains and water damage, fold marks with short tears along them. Fair–good condition.