Lot 32
Large Collection of Letters, Legal Documents and Manuscripts – Signed by Dozens of North-African Torah Scholars and Rabbis
Large and varied collection of letters, Beit Din documents and manuscripts (over one hundred items), signed by the Torah scholars and rabbis of North-Africa. [Second half of 19th century and first half of 20th century].
The collection includes:
• Large collection of legal documents (over 25), mostly issued by the Beit Din of Fez, from the 1880s-1910s, with the calligraphic signatures of the local rabbis and Torah scholars, including: R. Vidal HaTzarfati, R. Yehoshua Monsonego, R. Eliyahu Attia, R. Abba Attia, R. Yehuda Binyamin Serero, R. Shaul Serero, R. Matityah Serero, R. Eliyahu HaKohen Skali, R. Maimon Benaim, R. Shlomo Bendanan, R. Chaim David HaKohen Alkhallas, R. Reuven Assouline, R. Eliyahu Elkhrief, R. Mordechai Assayag, R. David Eliyahu Harroush, R. Yehoshua Aharon Afriat, R. David Edery, R. Yaakov Khalfon, R. Refael Maimon, R. Masoud Senior, R. Eliyahu Bitton, R. Shlomo Sasson, R. Yitzchak Benaim, R. Aharon Monsonego, and others.
• Collection of letters and documents from the archive of R. Refael HaTzarfati ("the Angel Refael"), rabbi of Oujda (north-eastern Morocco), including over thirty letters (including lengthy halachic letters) addressed to R. Refael HaTzarfati, from the rabbis: R. Moshe Zrihen – head of the Marrakesh Beit Din, R. Refael Baruch Toledano – head of the Meknes Beit Din, R. Aharon Ben Hassin – head of the Mogador Beit Din (two letters), R. Yehoshua Berdugo – head of the Meknes and Rabat Beit Din and chief rabbi of Morocco, R. David HaKohen Skali – head of the Oran Beit Din, R. Shaul Bendanan – head of the Marrakesh Beit Din, R. Chaim David Bensoussan – head of the Casablanca Beit Din, R. Yehoshua Maman, R. David Sabbah, R. Shlomo HaKohen – a rabbi of Oujda (three letters; including a lengthy, six-page long halachic letter, with a draft of the response by R. Refael HaTzarfati at the end), R. Yehuda Benshimol, R. Masoud HaKohen, and others; some 20 letters and documents handwritten by R. Refael HaTzarfati, most with his signature and stamp – letters to various figures and sermons he delivered on various occasions; and other documents from his archive.
• Eight letters (mostly on halachic matters) from R. Refael Ankaoua (he too was called "the Angel Refael"), addressed to R. Refael HaTzarfati; and a letter sent to R. Refael Ankaoua by R. Shlomo Bendanan.
• Manuscript by R. Refael Chaim Moshe Benaim, emissary of Tiberias and rabbi of Gibraltar (comprising novellae and homilies in his handwriting); and letters to R. Refael Chaim Moshe Benaim from R. Yisrael Zeitoun – head of the Tunis Beit Din, R. Avraham Sabbah – head of the Mogador Beit Din, R. Chaim Yosef Maman – head of the Oran Beit Din.
• Letter from R. Chaim Yosef Maman to R. Shmuel Yisrael of Tétouan; letter from R. Shmuel Yisrael to R. Chaim Yosef Maman; leaf signed by R. Moshe Meir Hai Elyakim head of the Casablanca Beit Din; legal documents from the Rabat Beit Din, signed by the local rabbis; postcards and other paper items.
127 paper items. Size and condition vary (overall good-fair condition).
