Large, hand-decorated poster – Hon VaOsher Beveito – call to found a library in Midrash Eliyahu, the Vilna Gaon Beit Midrash in Jerusalem – with letters and handwritten signatures of thirteen rabbis of Jerusalem, including R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld [whose letter opposes the secular libraries established in the city in those days which mixed holy and secular books]. Jerusalem, [ca. 1897].

Announcement of treasurers and administrators of the Midrash Eliyahu in Jerusalem, written as a personal appeal, with a blank space left to be filled in with the name of the donor, to establish a Beit Midrash for Torah and prayer, and a library, to be named after the Vilna Gaon, in Jerusalem.

Thirteen rabbis of Jerusalem signed the letter, some of whom added brief handwritten letters of support and assent, including R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, who adds that this would have the additional benefit of preventing people from visiting a library that mixed holy and secular book [apparently referring to the B'nai B'rith library established in Meah Shearim during that period].

The present poster also features signatures and letters of R. Shlomo Zalman Baharan Löwy, R. Asher Luria, R. David of Izabelin, R. Yehoshua Epstein of Vilna, R. David Tzvi Hirsch, R. Yisrael Isser of Slonim, R. Yitzchak son of R. Yosef Segal, R. Asher Dov Ber Zusman, R. Shmuel Dov of Vilna, R. Isser Ginzburg son of R. Naftali Hertz, R. Asher Anshel son of R. Elyakim, R. Yedidiah son of R. Nachman of Grodno.

[1] large leaf. 44 cm. Fair-good condition. Folding marks and creases. Stains and wear. Minor tears.

Letter to the American philanthropist R. Dov Manischewitz and his wife Nesha, regarding the donations collected from the United States for the poor of Jerusalem, with the signatures and stamps of the Jerusalem Torah scholars and heads of the Vaad HaKlali, appointees of the kollels. Jerusalem, Kislev 1904.

Ten signatories: R. "Yitzchak Blazer" [the Rabbi of St. Petersburg, disciple of R. Yisrael Salanter]; R. Menachem Mendel Rabin [head of the Chassidic settlement in Jerusalem, son of R. Shmuel Aharon, Rabbi of Korczyna, author of Masa Meiron]; R. Elimelech Perlman [an important activist and leader of the Chassidic community of Jerusalem, son of R. Yisrael Isser Perlman, Rabbi of Rozwadów and son-in-law of R. Baruch Binyamin Ze'ev Wolf Weinstock, the first Chassidic dayan in Jerusalem]; R. Eliyahu Ze'ev Wolfsohn; R. Gedaliah Nachman Broder; R. Asher Dov Sussman; R. Yitzchak Eliezer Charlap; R. Moshe Ze'ev Silberman; R. Meir Adler [son-in-law of Rebbe Elazar Mendel Bidermann of Lelov]; and R. "Dov Ber Abramowitz – secretary" [a rabbi of St. Louis, United States, and a head of the Vaad HaKlali in Eretz Israel and the United States].

In the margins of the signatures is a letter with the signatures of the rabbis of the city, R. Shmuel Salant and R. Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim (the Aderet): "We too greet you and bless you with success and sign with a blessing".

R. Yitzchak Blazer – known as R. Itzele Peterburger (1837-1907), prominent disciple of R. Yisrael Salanter, and disseminator of the Musar movement in the Lithuanian yeshivas. Leading Torah scholar of his times, a Musar personality known for his holiness. At the instruction of R. Salanter he began to serve as Rabbi of St. Petersburg in 1862; in 1878 he resigned and moved to Kovno, and headed the Kovno Kollel starting in 1880. Later he also resigned from this position in order to continue his service of God as a private individual. During all of these periods, he would deliver Musar sermons in the Knesset Yisrael yeshiva in Slabodka, near Kovno. In 1902 he began preparing to immigrate to Eretz Israel, to which end he sold his house and property in Kovno, finally arriving in Eretz Israel in 1904. At his arrival in Jaffa, he was received in a ceremony attended by many leading Jerusalem rabbis. During this period R. Itzele directed the Vilna Kollel in Jerusalem and headed the Vaad HaKlali of charitable institutions in Jerusalem. Author of Responsa Pri Yitzchak in two parts.

[1] leaf, official stationery. 28 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, including dark dampstains. Wear and folding marks. Repaired with paper to verso.