Bidspirit auction | Arab Hostility to Installing a

Arab Hostility to Installing a Sewage Pipe for the Churva! Unusual Letter of Gratitude from Rabbi Zundel of Salant to the British Government – Jerusalem, 1860 * A remarkable letter by the rabbanim and leaders of the Perushim community in Jerusalem, headed by Rabbi Zundel of Salant and Rabbi Yeshaya Bardaki. The letter was sent to the renowned British consul James Finn, the most senior diplomat in Jerusalem at that time. The letter recounts a fascinating account of harassment by the Arabs against the Ashkenazi Jews of Jerusalem, expressed in the vexing denial of the most basic sanitary conditions on Churva Street, and how, in the end, the Ashkenazi community succeeded in overcoming the opposition. During those years, the large Ashkenazi synagogue known as the “Churva of Rabbi Yehuda HaChassid, ” or commonly called the “Churva, ” was being constructed, and a basic need arose to install a sewage pipe from the street to the main thoroughfare. The Arabs, as is well known, harassed the Ashkenazi Jews — among other reasons, because they did not understand the European mentality — and maliciously obstructed the granting of a permit to lay the pipe. No pressure, whether formal or informal, proved effective; the Arabs remained adamant in their refusal to grant the required authorization. This caused great suffering to the Ashkenazi community, both because of the lack of elementary hygiene and because it was a hindrance to prayer, for it is forbidden to pray in a place where there is a foul odor. Each year, the Ashkenazi community spent enormous sums to clean the streets themselves. In 1860, a series of pogroms and internal Arab upheavals in Syria and Lebanon weakened the power of the Arabs, including those residing in Eretz Yisrael. The Ashkenazi community seized this opportune moment, and with the assistance of the renowned British consul James Finn — as well as by giving discreet “gifts” to officials — they finally succeeded in obtaining the long-sought permit. The present letter was written shortly after the permit was granted, and in it the rabbanim express their gratitude to the British Government and to the consul, James Finn, a known Ohev Yisrael, for assisting them in securing the long-awaited authorization from the Muslim Pasha. The granting of the permit was a remarkable feat, for few believed such approval could ever be secured from the Arabs. Yechiel Bril wrote the following in the newspaper HaMaggid: “Now, the Ashkenazi Jews have found the means… to accomplish that which in former days they could not accomplish even with heaps of gold. They are constructing a large sewer from the Churva of Rabbi Yehuda HaChassid… The Ashkenazi community attempted to achieve this many times with the aid of the officials… yet even their intervention did not help. Now, with ease, and with just a modest bribe given discreetly, and with the assistance of the English representative, the Pasha granted permission to build the sewer. To anyone acquainted with the malice of the Arabs in the Holy City of Jerusalem, this account would seem unbelievable ” (7 Kislev 1860, p. 4). The rabbanim wrote in the present letter: “We hereby write to the honorable Government of Britain and our esteemed consul… with heartfelt praise and gratitude… for through the power and authority of his government… we have succeeded in removing the great obstacle in the street of the Ashkenazi quarter known as ‘Der Ashkenaz’ [the Churva Street], in that we have now constructed a sewer from our property to the city’s main sewer. Henceforth, no stench will pervade the street, and our quarter shall be clean, as befits a house of prayer. Until now, we have been unable to achieve this because the Arabs, inhabitants of the city, have prevented us. Only through the intervention of the British Government and the consul have we finally been able to accomplish this.” The letter bears the signatures, in Lashon HaKodesh and in Latin script, of the leading rabbanim of the Perushim community: Rabbi Zundel of Salant, father-in-law of Rabbi Shmuel Salant and rebbi of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter; and Rabbi Yeshaya Bardaki, leader of the Perushim community in Eretz Yisrael. Signed alongside them are: Rabbi Aryeh HaNe’eman, Rabbi Avraham of Cherson, Rabbi Yosef Rosenthal, Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Berliner, and Rabbi Mordechai Shlank. Jerusalem, 1860. One leaf, written on one side. Good condition, with minor tears and repairs on the reverse. Published in Kovetz Ha-Ohel, Year 18, issues 1-2 (nos. 41-42), Jerusalem, 1972, pp. [44-48]. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Rabbi Zundel of Salant (1786–1866) was one of the prime disciples of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, who instilled in him the lessons that he had learned directly from his rebbi, the Vilna Gaon. Rabbi Zundel thus became known as the “third mouth [generation] from the Vilna Gaon.” He was the father-in-law of Rabbi Shmuel Salant, future leader of the Jewish community in Jerusalem,