Large handwritten parchment leaf, copying of letters of recommendation written by rabbis for Pidyon Shvuyim (Redemption of Captives), bearing recommendations of rabbis of Poland and Germany, Holland and London. [London? 1750].
Large format parchment leaf, written in two columns. Contains letters of recommendation for three brothers: Moshe, Ya'akov and Yitzchak, sons of R. Moshe HaCohen of Macedonia, Jewish traders who fell into a serious financial crisis after their ship, loaded with merchandise (their own and others' as well), sunk into the sea casting them into heavy debt. They, together with their wives and children were imprisoned. They themselves succeeded in fleeing but their wives and children remained in prison. After they fled, they were forced to travel trying to collect funds necessary for paying ransom to redeem themselves and their families.
In the top right part of the first page is a recommendation by the rabbis and dignitaries of the Sephardi community of Khotyn (today Ukraine). A copying of 14 letters of recommendation "Written and signed by famous rabbi of Poland and Ashkenaz (Germany)" appears in the left column and on the right column of the second page. These recommendations were written by Polish (Podolia) and German rabbis and they include the recommendation of R. Yechezkel Landau, author of Noda BiYehuda during his tenure as Rabbi of Yampil. In the right column of the first page are recommendations given to the brothers in Holland, Amsterdam and Hague and in the left column of the second page is a recommendation written on their behalf in London.
The recommendation from Khotyn and those written by Polish and German rabbis were copied in square letters (so that Ashkenazi Jews could understand them as well) but the recommendations by the rabbis of the Sephardi communities of Amsterdam and London were copied in semi-cursive Sephardi script. Portuguese inscriptions were added to the Sephardi recommendations, detailing the amounts of the donations.
Study of this manuscript reveals the route taken by the brothers to collect funds. The recommendation of the Khotyn Sephardi community was written in Tishrei 1748. At the end of that same year, they made rounds in Podolia. On the 26th of Elul they were in Zhvanets and received a letter from the "Sephardi wealthy dignitaries", also signed by the local rabbi (Yehuda Leib Maskal), addressed to the Noda BiYehuda requesting his recommendation on behalf of the brothers to enable them to collect donations in Ashkenazi communities. Afterward, they visited Yampil, apparently, on Erev Sukkot 1750. At that time, the Noda BiYehuda officiated as Rabbi of the city and he gave them a recommendation. The next date entered is Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, which found the brothers in Horokhiv, the 6th of Cheshvan in Volodymyr-Volynskyi, the 15th of Cheshvan in Zamość and that same day, they also visited Szczebrzeszyn, on the 26th of Cheshvan – Kraśnik, on the 24th of Cheshvan – Apta, on Erev Rosh Chodesh Kislev – Khmilnyk and on Rosh Chodesh Kislev – Pińczów. In each of these places, they received letters of recommendation from local rabbis. From Poland, they travelled to Germany: On the 3rd of Tevet they arrived in Frankfurt am Main, on the 13th of Tevet in Berlin, on Rosh Chodesh Shevat in Halberstadt, on the 12th of Shevat in Hanover. In all these cities too, they received recommendations from the local rabbis. From Germany, they moved on to Holland: On the 28th of Adar Bet they arrived in Amsterdam and received a letter from R. Yitzchak Chaim ibn Dana de Brito. On the 26th of Iyar, they were in Hague and received a recommendation from R. Daniel HaCohen Rodriguez. At the end of the month of Iyar, they returned to Amsterdam and received letters of recommendation from two Eretz Israel emissaries, R. Masud Bonan, emissary of Tiberias, and R. Meir Sigora of Safed.
The last letter of recommendation which appears on this leaf was written in London in the month of Tamuz 1750 by the rabbi of the Portuguese-Sephardi community in the city, R. Moshe Gomes de Mesquita (See item 161). R. Moshe writes that after the brothers' failure to collect the required funds, they decided to part and two brothers travelled to the new settlements of Portuguese Jews in Central America: "They were compelled to part ways, two brothers travelled to the islands, first to Curaçao and then to Barbados and to Jamaica to expedite the Pidyon Shvuyim, and I have found Moshe, the great man here in our city…".
The style of writing tends to identify the writer as a scribe of a Portuguese-Sephardi community in Holland or in London. Since the last letter was written in London, this copy was presumably written there as well.
A copying of these letters of recommendation, from a different source, was published by Prof. Meir Benayahu. He cited the letters from a handwritten notebook from Ferrara, containing copyings of the letters written by the community scribe, apparently, R Yitzchak Lampronti (that manuscript is preserved in the collection of Yeshaya Zana in Ben-Zvi Institute, no. 4054). Prof. Benayahu cites other letters as well, from further travels of the brother named Moshe to Algeria and to Italian cities. See: M. Benayahu, The relations between Greek Jews and Italian Jews, Tel Aviv 1980, pp. 22-23, 266-278.
Large parchment leaf. Height: 58 cm. Width: 51.5 cm. Stains. Two natural holes. Folding marks.