Bidspirit auction | Unique manuscript – the donor

Unique manuscript – the donor register of the “Etz Chaim” Yeshiva, Jerusalem, 1921–1924. Extra-large format - Bound accounting ledger, large and thick (approx. 300 leaves, over 500 written pages), recording all donations from American Jewry to the “Etz Chaim” Yeshiva in Jerusalem during the years 1921–1924. A unique and historically significant item of great research value. Each page lists about 10–15 individual donations, with precise details including the date of the contribution, the donor’s name (a considerable number of them women), city of residence — Bronx, Nashville, Elizabeth, and others — the donation amount, and the method of transfer (bank transfer, name of the messenger or collector). The ledger contains over 5,000 donations, forming an important primary source for the history of American Jewish philanthropy to Jerusalem in the early 20th century, as well as a rare onomastic record of American Jews — men and women — who became the founding generation of Jewish communities across the United States. The “Etz Chaim” Yeshiva, founded in 1841 by Rabbi Shmuel Salant, is the oldest Torah institution of the Old Yishuv in Jerusalem, encompassing a Talmud Torah, Yeshiva, and Kollel. The institution was led by Jerusalem’s great rabbis, among them Rabbi Yechiel Michel Tukachinsky. A unique historical artifact, representing a crucial chapter in the intertwined story of Torah life and charitable giving in both the Land of Israel and the Jewish Diaspora. Large-format ledger: 26×21 cm; approx. 300 leaves (over 500 densely written pages). Condition: good to very good; original heavy half-leather binding, exceptionally sturdy, preserving the manuscript as if kept within a box.