Bidspirit auction | Magnificent Shadar Document for Rabbi

Magnificent Shadar Document for Rabbi Ezra Chaim Dweck HaKohen – Grandson of the Gaon, Author of Re’ach Sadeh – Signatures of the Leading Rabbis of Tiberias – [1862] - Magnificent Shadar Document Issued by the Sages and Rabbis of the Holy City of Tiberias to the Emissary Rabbi Ezra Chaim Dweck HaKohen, of the Distinguished Dweck HaKohen Family of Aleppo – Tiberias, Sivan 5622 [1862]. Signatures of the Leading Rabbis of the City An elegant and eloquently worded emissary document issued for “the esteemed and all-encompassing rabbi, a remembrance of the Temple like Hillel, Zera Kodesh, our master Rabbi Ezra Chaim HaKohen Dweck, may his light shine, ” who was sent by the sages of Tiberias to raise funds for the inhabitants of the Holy City at a time when the community was suffering from severe economic hardship and prolonged famine. The sages of Tiberias place particular emphasis on the emissary’s distinguished lineage, as a descendant of the renowned Rabbi Shimon Dweck HaKohen, author of Re’ach Sadeh [Constantinople, 1738], one of the great sages of Aram Tzova – Aleppo. The document is written in the ornate, poetic style characteristic of Sephardic rabbinic letters and Shadar documents. It opens with an elaborate blessing of peace: “At the opening of the ark, let peace pass forth; abundant peace like dew from Hashem, like showers, like streams of water and flowing rivers…” The sages then describe to their prospective benefactors the dire condition of the community and the extreme hardship endured by its residents. They relate how the Torah scholars and righteous men of Tiberias remain devoted to Torah study and Divine service in the city’s study hall despite their poverty and deprivation: “…the hardship of the community, this city… filled with the spirit of knowledge and fear of Hashem; righteous men sit in Torah study and Divine service in the great study hall of Tiberias, upholding the Torah amid poverty, suffering deprivation, without adequate clothing…” A particularly poignant passage describes the famine and soaring food prices that had afflicted the Land for three years. The rabbis write: “…because of the famine, the high cost of provisions, and there being no bread throughout the Land for these three years; Hashem has called forth a famine unlike any known before; the poor and destitute seek [food], going from gate to gate throughout the camp for a morsel of bread…” These passages lend the document additional historical significance, constituting direct testimony from the rabbis of Tiberias regarding the years of scarcity, famine, and soaring prices in Eretz Israel, and the desperate circumstances of the city’s Torah scholars and poor. The document concludes with the blessing of the sages of the city and is dated: “Here in the Holy City of Tiberias, in the month of Sivan, in the year ‘Life and peace shall be added unto you, with abundant strength and peace.’” The document bears the signatures of prominent rabbis and sages of Tiberias: Rabbi Chaim Shmuel HaKohen Konorti – Av Beit Din of Tiberias and Chacham Bashi. Rabbi Avraham Dweck HaKohen – one of the prominent rabbis of the city and a member of the distinguished Dweck HaKohen rabbinic family. Rabbi Avraham Yaakov Abadi – one of the sages of Aleppo, who immigrated to Tiberias in his later years and served as a dayan on the rabbinical court of Rabbi Chana. Rabbi Yitzchak HaLevi Ibn Susan – a holy man and one of the sages of Salé, Morocco, who settled in Tiberias in his later years. Rabbi Aharon Bechor Alhadif – Chief Rabbi of Tiberias and Chacham Bashi following the passing of Rabbi Chaim Shmuel Konorti. An impressive and historically significant Shadar document. [1] written leaf of [2] leaves. Condition: Very good.