Lengthy Letter from Rabbi Chaim Baruch Maistro, Sefad Emissary. London, 1806

Lengthy Letter from Rabbi Chaim Baruch Maistro, Sefad Emissary. London, 1806
Lengthy letter from Rabbi Chaim Baruch Maistro, a Sefad rabbi, to Rabbi Ya'akov Nunis Vais, a Livorno rabbi.

In his lengthy letter, written in his beautiful, orderly script, Rabbi Chaim Baruch details his wanderings in exile and the adventures he had during his travels as an emissary, and his situation in London. The letter mentions many prominent personalities and rabbis (including Rabbi Rephael Yeshayah Azoulay, son of the Chid"a).

Rabbi Chaim Baruch Maistro was a native of Italy, a scion of the Ramba"m and of Rabbeinu Yonah. He ascended to Safed in his youth and later served as a rabbi and dayan there. He set out as an emissary for the benefit of the Jewish settlement in Safed in 1800, and later as an emissary for the people of Jerusalem. His final mission was on behalf of the Jews of Chevron in 1814. He stayed in Vienna in this capacity until 1817, when he passed away there. In this last mission, he debated halachah with the Chatam Sofer, who called him, "the complete sage, the exalted rabbi, loyal delegate of his senders" (Shu"t Chatam Sofer: Ohr HaChaim 194). In his ledger (which is in the National Library), there appear signatures by most of the community leaders in Germany, and letters from: Rabbi Asher, Av Beit Din of Karlsruhe, son of the author of Minchat Levi, the rabbi of Frankfurt and the son of the author of Hafla'ah. Regarding Rabbi Chaim Baruch Maistro and his mission, refer to Sefer HaZikaron L'Rabbi Yitzchak Nissim Part IV, pp. 303 onward.

[1] leaf written on both sides. Size: 20x25 cm; fine condition. Aging stains. Tiny perforations in the folds. Tears in the margins with tiny blemishes in several individual words.