A long interesting letter, about the polemic of the institutes, to the Rishon L'Zion Rabbi Yissa Bracha [Rabbi Ya'akov Shaul Elyashar]. Signed by 14 of the heads of the General Committee of the Ashkenazi Kollels in the Holy Land. Jerusalem, 1894.
Among those who signed the letter are well-known rabbis and public figures of the city such as: Rabbi "Ziskind Shachor"; Rabbi "Zevulun Charlap" [member of the Beit Din of the Maharil Diskin]; Rabbi "Binyamin Beinush Tikochinsky; Rabbi "Yisrael Isser ben Rabbi M. HaLevi; Rabbi "Yosef Rivlin"; Rabbi "Eliezer Grayevesky"; etc.
This letter was written during one of the most tumultuous years of the old yishuv in Jerusalem and unfolding between its lines are the critical struggles that caused heated controversy in Jerusalem during the difficult time when the city was fighting for its existence and the needy population of Jerusalem were hungry for bread. At that time, a mighty struggle arose among the various communities of the Jerusalem about the money of the Chaluka (to be distributed) and the charity funds donated by Jews in Europe and America, sent to the leaders of the Ashkenazi community for schools and institutes for the ill. The Sephardic community asked to share this money relying on agreements from the past and in particular, it asked for money for the Sephardic hospital Misgav Ladach, which they claimed gave medical assistance to the Ashkenazi community as well.
This struggle lasted for a long time and various elements in Eretz Israel and abroad were involved in the dispute. Rabbi Shmuel Salant and the Chacham Bashi Rabbi Ya'akov Shaul Elyashar author of Yissa Bracha make a few attempts to restore peace but each time it lasted for only a short while and from time to time the dispute would flare up again.
At the time this letter was written, the dispute took a severe turn; Rabbi Michel HaCohen who first served as secretary of the institutes of the Ashkenazi community and was one of the most energetic public activists of Jerusalem was dismissed together with his son and son-in-law Rabbi Chaim Michel Michlin, from their positions in the Etz Chaim Talmud Torah and the Bikur Cholim Hospital. The dismissed figures then served the Sephardic population as secretaries of the Misgav Ladach institutes together with the "lists of donators" of the Ashkenazi institutes and did all they could to take revenge on those who had dismissed them.
This letter has many accusations concerning what had been done and request of mercy to restore things to normal with cooperation and peace.
Official stationery, 2 pages; 29 cm. Scribal writing, signed by 14 people. Good condition, stains and