Bidspirit auction | A Rare Letter of Recommendation

A Rare Letter of Recommendation for Rabbi Raphael Ben Attar – A Special Appeal to Rescue Him from Crushing Debts. Tiberias, 1844 - A rare and moving document issued by the rabbis of Tiberias on behalf of Rabbi Raphael Ben Attar, a resident of the city who had fallen into severe financial distress and accumulated substantial debts to non-Jewish creditors. In this letter, the rabbis appeal to the generosity of Jewish benefactors, urging them to assist him and deliver him from his desperate circumstances. The wording vividly describes the gravity of his plight and the danger posed by his creditors, to the extent that the rabbis liken his situation to a matter of Pidyon Shevuyim (redeeming captives), calling upon the public to contribute generously toward his rescue. The document provides a rare glimpse into the harsh realities of life in nineteenth-century Ottoman Palestine and the communal support extended by the rabbis of the Holy Land to members of their community facing personal hardship. Signed by some of the foremost rabbis of Tiberias of the period: Rabbi Chaim Nissim Abulafia Rabbi Yosef Maman Rabbi Yitzchak Abulafia Rabbi Raphael Rabbi Avraham Elhadif Rabbi Moshe Gigi Rabbi David Naḥmad [1] leaf. 25 × 18 cm.