Letter (21 lines) handwritten and signed by R. Eliyahu Guttmacher, Rabbi of Greiditz (Grodzisk Wielkopolski). [Greiditz, ca. 1860s-1870s].
Letter of rebuke, presumably addressed to the trustee of his institutions in Jerusalem (the upper part of the leaf, with the date and name of recipient were cut off, possibly to hide the identity of the addressee, recipient of this reproof. The recipient may have been R. Yaakov Mordechai Hirschensohn, founder and gabbai of his Beit Midrash Sukkat Shalom in Jerusalem). R. Guttmacher reproaches him for not sending receipts for the Passover funds, adding that this is delaying the expedition of funds for Shavuot. R. Eliyahu describes the grievances being leveled against him personally, for backing his trustee against his rivals. He relates that he received letters on this topic from "the Sephardi Chacham… and from the Kalischer Gaon", accusing the trustee of refusing to present himself for mediation. Following this scathing reprimand, R. Eliyahu tries to find extenuating circumstances which could explain this lapse, such as postal delays.
R. Eliyahu Guttmacher (1796-1875), disciple of R. Akiva Eger, served as rabbi of Pleschen and Greiditz. Famed as a holy kabbalist, in his senior years his name spread throughout the Jewish world as a wonder-worker, with amazing stories circulating of the great miracles and salvations attained through the blessings of "der Greiditzer Tzaddik" (the Tzaddik of Greiditz).
R. Eliyahu Guttmacher was very active on behalf of Eretz Israel Jewry and together with R. Tzvi Hirsch Kalischer, he was a leading member of the Chevrat Yishuv Eretz Israel society whose goal was to increase agricultural Jewish settlement in Eretz Israel.
[1] leaf. Approx. 18 cm. Good condition. Lacking upper part of leaf (cut unsymmetrically).