Bidspirit auction | Letter From Morocco's Tzaddikim, Including

Letter From Morocco's Tzaddikim, Including Miracle-Worker Rabbi Yehuda ben Attar and the Yaabetz – Fez, 1718 * A unique letter containing an appeal to raise funds on behalf of the residents of the holy city of Jerusalem. Three of the great sages of Fez from some three hundred years ago are signatories on the letter. The leading signatory is the tzaddik Rabbi Yehuda ben Attar, renowned as a miracle worker, who was cast into a lion’s den and survived due to his greatness! Signed alongside him is the illustrious gaon Rabbi Yaakov ibn Tzur — the Yaabetz — pride of Moroccan Jewry. Another signatory is the dayan Rabbi Avraham ibn Danan (his signature appears after that of Rabbi Yehuda ben Attar). Reading the letter, one clearly senses the profound love the sages of Fez hold for the cherished Land of the Patriarchs. In their eloquent words, they write to the recipients: “You are the kohanim of Hashem — wherever the aforementioned emissary shall arrive, stand at his side to strengthen our holy city with a fitting contribution, and exert yourselves with all your might and vigor to dispatch him swiftly, filled with Hashem's blessing; and through your blessings, he shall be blessed.” At the conclusion of the letter, the Rabbanim offer their blessing: “May your stature be uplifted in reward for this, and may you merit to behold Jerusalem calm and secure, with the Beis Hamikdash restored.” The letter also contains a historical detail — that for a long time, no emissary from Jerusalem had reached Morocco. As they write: “It is important to make known that for a long time, no emissary from Jerusalem has come. Now that a new light [a long-awaited emissary] has arrived from the East, our Jewish brethren should honor the aforementioned sage with a generous gift, doubled and redoubled, and extend to him an abundant measure of kindness.” Rabbi Yehuda ben Attar (1655–1733), Av Beis Din of Fez, was a close relative of the Ohr Hachaim HaKadosh and gave an approbation to his sefer Chefetz Hashem. Rabbi Yehuda was renowned as a holy, pious Jew and miracle-worker who merited seeing Eliyahu HaNavi. The Chida wrote of him: “He was accustomed to miracles, and I heard many wonders [about him]… I have heard from holy rabbanim, sages of the Maghreb region, that he was a holy G-dly man… He was once thrown into a lion’s den and miraculously survived, although he remained there for a full day and night, and it was a great Kiddush Hashem. Men would swear by his name, and one who swore falsely, perished” (Shem HaGedolim). Rabbi Yaakov ibn Tzur, the Yaabetz (1673–1753) , author of Shu”t Mishpat U’Tzedakah B’Yaakov, was one of the leading rabbanim of Morocco and the surrounding countries. He served as Rav in Fez alongside his teacher, Rabbi Yehuda ben Attar. He possessed deep mastery of all Sephardic customs and was also well-versed in practical Kabbalah, “leaving no area, great or small, unexplored” (ibid.). Only a few months after signing this letter, the Yaabetz was appointed Rav of Meknes. Rabbi Avraham ben Shaul ibn Danan (d. prior to 1726) served as a dayan alongside the above rabbanim. His signature appears repeatedly on halachic rulings dated between 1705–1722 in Shu”t Mishpat U’Tzedakah B’Yaakov. Fez, 1718. Writing of a scribe, bearing elegant autograph signatures of the three aforementioned rabbanim. Leaf measuring approx. 15.5×21 cm. Condition: Holes with damage affecting several lines of the body of the letter and the margins, professionally restored. The signatures remain intact — clear and beautiful. Bibliography : This letter was once in the possession of the sage Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Toledano, who printed it in Mizrach U’Ma’arav, vol. 3, Jerusalem 1929, p. 381. Yaari also saw the letter and reprinted part of it in his sefer Shluchei Eretz Yisrael, Jerusalem 1951, p. 360. -------------------- In the letter, the Rabbanim request that the charity funds be entrusted to the sage Rabbi Yosef Abuzaglo, a shaliach of the emissary Rabbi Yom Tov Krispo of Jerusalem. The letter was sent to the city of Outat El Haj in Morocco, some 150 kilometers from Fez. As the emissary himself, Rabbi Yom Tov Krispo, was tired from his many travels — as described in the letter — he did not journey there personally, but instead appointed Rabbi Yosef Abuzaglo to go in his stead.