Bidspirit auction | A fascinating Yerushalmi document signed

A fascinating Yerushalmi document signed by the distinguished disciples of the Gaon   Jerusalem, 1844 * A fascinating Yerushalmi document: An itemized valuation list of jewelry, clothing, and belongings brought by the prominent bride – Batya Zissle, daughter of Rabbi Aryeh HaNe’eman, one of the leaders of the Perushim community in Eretz Yisrael, to her husband. The chassan, “HaRav Moreinu HaRav Avrohom, ” is Rabbi Avraham Eisenstein of Drohiczyn, who later became a dayan in the Beis Din of the Imrei Binah and director of VVa’adHaKlali Knesses Yisrael. The document is signed twice by Rabbi Nosson Neta of Shklov, one of the leaders of the Perushim community in Eretz Yisrael, son of the famous talmid of the Vilna Gaon, Rabbi Mendel of Shklov. In his signatures, Rabbi Nosson Nota mentions his great father: “Nosson Neta, son of the chassid Moreinu HaRav Mendel zt” l” Also signed is Rabbi Yitzchok Yosef ben Rabbi Avrohom Katz. The clothing and jewelry are listed in their Yiddish names, as was customary in those days, with their valuations listed alongside, totaling a considerable sum. Among the items are: gold-adorned Yerushalmi ‘kaftan’ robes, hats, scarves, jewelry with pearls and precious stones, gold jewelry, necklaces, earrings, and much more. Rabbi Nosson Neta of Shklov, known as “Reb Neta HaGadol” (d. 1847), was the son of the famous kabbalist and talmid of the Vilna Gaon, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Shklov, who edited several of the Vilna Gaon’s sefarim and established the renewed Ashkenazi settlement in Jerusalem. Reb Neta made aliyah to Eretz Yisrael in his youth. Until his old age, he worked to strengthen the yishuv, both as an emissary throughout Europe and in Eretz Yisrael itself. Already during his time in Tzfas, he was active alongside Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov, and later in Jerusalem together with Rabbi Yeshaya Bardaki and Rabbi Yosef Zundel of Salant. He was called “Reb Neta HaGadol” to distinguish him from Reb Nosson Neta ben Reb Sa’adya, a talmid of the Vilna Gaon who was also active in Jerusalem at that time (and there are documents signed by both of them together). The chassan is the dayan Rabbi Avraham Eisenstein (1800-1886) who was born in Drohiczyn and made aliyah in the 1820s with a group of talmidim of the Vilna Gaon. He settled in Tzfas and was appointed as one of the dayanim of the Beis Din of Rabbi Yisroel of Shklov. After the earthquake in Tzfas, he served as an emissary in Europe, and when he returned, he was appointed as a dayan in the Beis Din of Rabbi Shmuel Salant and Rabbi Meir Auerbach, the Imrei Binah. He married the daughter of Rabbi Aryeh HaNe’eman, the famous Jerusalem gabbai tzedakah. His son was the renowned communal activist Rabbi Eliyahu Mordechai, the close assistant of Rabbi Shmuel Salant. Jerusalem, Tishrei 1844. The body of the document is in a scribe’s handwriting, with two signatures of Rabbi Nosson Neta (and the signatures of R’ Y.Y. Katz). Narrow and tall format: 12.1 x 28.3 cm. Condition: Stains, light tears in margins.