Appeal letter from the Siena community, addressed to the Trieste community, following pogroms against the Jews of Siena. Siena, 1799.
Letter in Italian. Signed (in Hebrew) by the rabbi of Siena, R. Yaakov Moshe Ayash (later Rishon LeTzion in Jerusalem), and two members of the committee (in Italian).
The present letter was written during the French Revolutionary wars. Following Austrian victory over the French forces in June 1799, the Jewish ghetto was assaulted, the houses looted, and 13 Jews cruelly murdered. The Austrian commander who took over the city placed a heavy tax on the Jews, threatening to burn the ghetto down and expel the Jews if they failed to come up with the required sum.
R. Yaakov Moshe Ayash (d. 1817), son of R. Yehuda Ayash. In 1779, he travelled to North Africa as emissary from Jerusalem. From there he travelled to Italy, where he spent twenty years, serving as rabbi of Siena and later Ferrara. He returned to Eretz Israel in 1803, and was later appointed Rishon LeTzion.
[1] double leaf (2 written pages + address). 25 cm. Fair-poor condition. Stains. Dampness damage (with traces of mold). Folding marks.

PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.