Bidspirit auction | Printed Proclamation by Rabbi Shmuel

Printed Proclamation by Rabbi Shmuel Salant – The “Kollel America” Controversy - Letter of Rabbi Shmuel Salant to R. Leib Rothenberg and R. Yitzchak Zvi Beilin. A response to the slanders spread by the members of “Kollel America” against the Vaad HaKlali in Jerusalem. Jerusalem, 1897. “Kollel America” was founded in 1896 (5656) with the purpose of assisting poor Jews from America who had immigrated to Eretz Israel and were not eligible to receive the chalukah (charitable distribution) from the veteran kollelim. The establishment of the new kollel aroused much controversy in Jerusalem, particularly from the leaders of the established kollelim and the Vaad HaKlali, whose main income came from fundraising campaigns in America. That same year, Rabbi Shmuel Salant issued a public proclamation (Kol Koreh) that was circulated throughout the Jewish Diaspora, warning that “the destruction of the Vaad HaKlali is the destruction of the entire Yishuv.” Leaders of the various kollelim joined him in opposing the new kollel, while the Maharil Diskin, by contrast, supported its establishment. An exceptionally rare proclamation. Not recorded in the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book and not in the National Library. 33 cm. Good condition. Traces of adhesive along the folds.