Leilão Bidspirit | Rare Historical Certificte! ”Igeret Ha'Kollel”

Rare Historical Certificte! ”Igeret Ha'Kollel” (Missive of the Kollel)– by the Disciples of the Vilna Gaon who Immigrated to the land of Israel and Settled in Safed – about the Mission of Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov to Raise Funds Abroad for the Settlement – [1810] – One of the Only Copies in the World! A Touching Item Fit for a Museum! - A historical missive written by the leading disciples of the Vilna Gaon, who had been ordered by the rabbi to immigrate to the Land of Israel to settle it. Due to the missive before us and others like it, which were given to rabbis and philanthropists in Europe, the Jewish settlement in its first days succeeded in its establishment. Those disciples immigrated to the Land of Israel in 1809 and the missive before us was written a short while after their arrival in Safed on Friday, the 10th of Adar B 1910. It was addressed to the Jews of Lithuania and Reisin and its content was the necessity to support the new Jewish settlement in Safed. The missive was most likely printed in the city of Shklov, the city of origin of the most leading disciples of the Vilna Gaon. [1910]. Vinograd, Gra 1090. The drafter of the missive (or most of it) is most likely Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov, the emissary to whom it was given, as will be explained hereinafter. The missive is signed (in print) by eleven of the disciples of the vilna Gaon, the leaders of the immigration and settlement and among them: Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Shklov, Rabbi Se'adya the son of Rabbi Natan Neta of Vilnius, Rabbi Chaim the son of Rabbi Tuviya Katz, Rabbi Yehoshua Heshil of Minsk author of 'Matzmi'ach Yeshu'ah', Rabbi Hillel of Kovna and more. This is the earliest document we know of from the renewal of the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel by the disciples of the Vilna Gaon. Historical background: The missive before us is not an ordinary missive similar to the acceptable ones in those times in which the writer would recount the troubles of the Yishuv and ask the merciful philanthropist for financial aid. Here however we have a missive sent by a strong community which is sure that it is a pioneer representing the many in settling the Land of Israel after two thousand years of exile and therefore, it is asking the many to take part in the historical mission that is carrying out. The researcher Avraham Ya'ari wrote: ”The community of the disciples of the Vilna Gaon gave to its emissary, Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov, the ”Igeret Ha'Kollel” (The missive of the Kollel), that is of the complete community which was signed by eleven of its leaders and a rpivated missive by Rabbi Chaim the son of Rabbi Tuviya Katz, to his friends in Vilnius. The emissary printed both missives in a special booklet, a single copy of which has survived and is kept in the archive of the National Library in Jerusalem”. Before us, then, is a historical discovery: an additional copy of this historical missive by the disciples of the Vilna Gaon. Indeed, it is lacking the first two pages (only pages 3, 4, 5, and 6 appear here); however, they themselves contain important historical content. Moreover, the copy before us, unlike the familiar one of the National Library which is torn and flawed, is relatively complete and nice. The copy before us does not contain the private missive by Rabbi Chaim Katz (which was printed on one of the leaves missing from the copy we have). Ya'ari continues and writes: ”These missives are of special importance, and not only because they are the first general missives of the disciples of the Vilna Gaon in the Land of Israel – which will eventually serve as the basis of the new Ashkenazi Yishuv in general – but because of their special content. The missive of the disciples of the Vilna Gaon is actually a manifest … between the lines of the missive, the writers' awareness of the fact that they are the emissaries of the complete nation is most outstanding. They do not ask but demand, and not by their merit but by that of the country. They do not evoke pity for themselves but rather for the needs of the barren country”. Rabbi Binyamin Mintz (in his preface to the new edition of 'Pe'at ha'Shukchan') also describes at length the importance of the missive before us. He adds that ”there are many indications that Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov himself took part in writing the missive, at least its first part”. Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov remained in Europe for his mission for almost three years. After many sufferings , and many successes, he returned in 1913 to the Land of Israel. Background on the immigration of the disciples of the Vilna Gaon to the Land of Israel: The first wave of immigrants was a group headed by Rabbi menachem Mendel of Shklov. The group arrived in Haifa in 1808 and for two months lived in Tiberius before moving to Safed. The second wave was a group headed by Rabbi Se'adya of Shklov. The group arrived in the Land of Israel during the summer of 1809.