Historic Letter from the Gaon Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov and Leading Disciples of the Gr"a, 1830

Historic Letter from the Gaon Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov and Leading Disciples of the Gr"a, 1830

Aliyah of the Gr"a's disciples

Emissary's letter with immense historic value, signed by the Gr"a's leading disciples, led by the gaon Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov, author of Pe'at HaShulchan, one of the leading disciples of the Gr"a and leader of their community in Safed. Wednesday, 15 Kislev, 1830 [chronogram: יכי"ן שא"ר לעמו ], Jerusalem and Safed.

"Regards from the sacred city of Jerusalem and environs, and its residents of select kollels who have established themselves in the sacred mountains from the disciples of Bei Rav Tanna Kadosh Hashem, light of the world, our rabbi the great true gaon, rabbi of the entire Diaspora, Rabbeinu Eliyahu HeChassid of Vilna ...  Our request is laid out before you as follows ... to come to our assistance, to those holding and cleaving to  the ways of our ancestors and ancient rabbis who have forever studied Torah, who study in yeshivah, serving Hashem. They are downtrodden and poverty-stricken under the weight of their debts, more than any other kollel. So much debt, so much poverty, like no other, as we have no fiery rabbi to shower abundance upon us and illuminate the Land and its inhabitants.

Long before the ascent of Zionists to the Land of Israel, before what is often termed "The First Aliyah" which took place in 1882, the aliyah of the disciples of the Gr"a took place over half a century earlier. This is a historic emissary's letter written in the first years of the settlement of the Gr"a's talmidim in the Land of Israel.

Emissary's letter written and given to "the precious emissary, the bearer of this letter, the exalted rabbi in Torah and fear of Heaven, the complete expert sage, the honorable Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch ... son of Rabbi Yehuda, from our Holy City, " with a blank space for the name of the benefactor to be filled in by the emissary. We will point out that the matter of sending this emissary is not well-known, and almost entirely without mention in research literature, including the comprehensive work by Avraham Ya'ari, Shluchei Eretz Yisrael."

The rabbis who signed on the letter include: "Chaim Cohen ... av beit din of Pinsk and environs"; "Yisrael, author of Sefer Taklin Chadatin of Safed"; "Nattan Nota son of the pious Rabbi Mendel of the Holy City of Jerusalem [of Shklov]; Nattan Nota [many honorifics] son of ... Sa'adiah zllh"h of Jerusalem" [who had the merit of serving the Gr"a]; "HaKatan Aryeh Leib son of Rabbi ... Yosef ztzllh"h Leon"; "Aryeh ... Rabbi Yerachmiel zllh"h Ne'eman scribe of Jerusalem"; "Shlomo Zalman son of Rabbi Ze'ev Wolf HaKohen."

In the margins of the letter, the leading disciples of the Gr"a bless the benefactor [whose name is still open] with rare blessings for wealth and success: "May his banner be raised, and his livelihood, now and in the future, in Hashem's gate, and in tranquility with the souls of our ancestors, the Tana'im and Amora'im and all who are sacred, so that your days be full and productive, and full of success in all you do."

Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for brief biographies of the sacred gaon Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov, the gaon Rabbi Chaim Cohen, av beit din of Pinsk; the gaon Rabbi Nattan Nota son of the gaon and Kabbalist Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Shklov; the gaon Rabbi Nattan Nota son of Sa'adiah; the gaon Rabbi Aryeh Leib Leon; Rabbi Aryeh Ne'eman (Marcus) of Keidan, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman son of Rabbi Ze'ev Wolf HaKohen.

[1] double leaf, 24.5 cm. Light paper, thick and high-quality.

Very fine condition. Aging stains.