Handwritten notebook of the Talmud Torah (boys' school) for Georgian Jews, with 13 letters of recommendation handwritten and signed by the rabbis of Jerusalem and various figures. Jerusalem, [1910-1912].
The notebook comprises the following letters of recommendation: letter handwritten and signed by R. Chaim Berlin (in square script); letter handwritten and signed by R. Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook Rabbi of Jaffa (in square script); letter handwritten and signed by R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld; letter signed and stamped by the heads of the Sephardi Batei Din, R. Moshe son of Yitzchak Tagger (HaRav HaMabit), R. Shmuel Nissim and R. Avraham Bichacho; three letters signed by the dayanim of the Ashkenazi Batei Din, the Chassidic Beit Din and the Perushim Beit Din: R. Lipman David Shuvaks, R. Moshe Nachum Wallenstein, R. Tzvi Pesach Frank, R. Leib Dayan, and others; letter from R. Eliyahu Moshe Panigel, and more; several letters in Hebrew, Arabic and French, including recommendations from Menachem Sheinkin and Dr. Joseph Klausner.
The letter by R. Chaim Berlin and two other letters were written on separate leaves and pasted in the notebook.
Georgian Jews began immigrating to Eretz Israel in the 1860s. In the 1910s, there were already over five hundred Georgian immigrants in Jerusalem. They established a synagogue and yeshiva, ran their own community, and even managed their own fund (kollel) to support the needy of their community.
The first page of the notebook states that the children of Georgian immigrants need their own school since they are unable to integrate into other schools due to the language barrier.
[13] written pages. Most the leaves of the notebook remain blank, some of the letters of recommendation were written on separate leaves and pasted in the notebook. 31 cm. Good condition. Stains. Old binding.
Enclosed: Group photograph (of the boys' school administration?). Mounted on card, with photographer's stamp: "David S. Abdo – Photographer – Jerusalem".