Large handwritten leaf, letter in Arabic on behalf of the Jewish community of Safed, addressed to the consuls of European countries (based in Haifa), with an impassioned plea for assistance in the wake of the city's destruction in the earthquake, and following the looting which devastated the community during the Peasants' revolt. With the stamp of Rebbe Avraham Dov of Ovritsh (Ovruch) author of Bat Ayin, and the stamp of R. Gershon Margolies (head of the Chassidic community). Safed, Shevat 1837. Important letter documenting the history of the Safed community.
Large format leaf, written in Arabic. At the foot of the letter, on the left, signature in Arabic (presumably written by the scribe) "Avraham Dov – representative of Russian subjects in Safed" (translated from Arabic), together with his stamp (in Hebrew): "Avraham Dov of Zhitomir". On the right, signature in Arabic (presumably written by the scribe): "Gershon – representative of German subjects" (translated from Arabic), with his stamp (in Hebrew – difficult to decipher).
The letter describes the difficult state of Safed Jewry in the wake of the earthquake, which claimed the lives of some two thousand Jewish residents. This calamity closely followed the pogroms and widespread looting which local Arab mobs perpetrated on the Jews of the city, during the course of the Peasants' Revolt. The letter portrays the horrors they endured during the pogroms, including murder and injury of men, women and children, the defilement of women, and other atrocities, and depicts how these troubles were compounded by the present earthquake which destroyed their homes and their few remaining possessions, killed thousands, and left countless of wounded without food nor a roof over their heads. The writers ask the consuls of the various countries to intercede on their behalf and obtain support and assistance for them.
At the start of the 19th century, Safed was one of the prominent communities in Eretz Israel. Safed was home to two famous communities: the Chassidic community, founded by the disciples of the Baal Shem Tov, alongside the community of the disciples of the Gaon of Vilna. In the 1830s, the Chassidic community was headed by R. Avraham Dov of Ovritsh. The Perushim community was led by R. Yisrael of Shklow, disciple of the Gaon of Vilna. In that period, two great calamities befell the city, and led to its destruction: the first was the Safed riots which evolved from the Peasants' Revolt in 1834, and the second – the deadly earthquake in 1837.
The Peasants' Revolt erupted following the decree of Muhammad Ali, ruler of Egypt (who also ruled over Eretz Israel) and his son Ibrahim Pasha, who imposed a general conscription order on the local population. The Muslim tribes rebelled against this enlistment duty and started a popular uprising, during which the rebels attacked the Jewish population, looting, murdering and cruelly torturing their victims. The Safed community was one of the main victims of these riots. Apart from the casualties, the rebels looted Jewish property. They robbed and destroyed private homes, broke into synagogues and Batei Midrash, ripped and desecrated Torah scrolls and holy books. They also raided R. Yisrael Bak's printing press, destroying the machinery and equipment, and damaging any books they found. Only the book Pe'at HaShulchan by R. Yisrael of Shklow, which was in the process of being printed, was miraculously spared. The book was printed after the reestablishment of the press, in 1836, and in its preface, R. Yisrael describes the riots.
While the community was still licking its wounds from the riots, the earthquake struck, completely devastating the city. The earthquake took place on 24th Tevet 1837, while the Mincha services were being held in the synagogues. It hit Tiberias, Shechem and other towns as well, yet the main victim was Safed. R. Yisrael of Shklow, who was staying at that time in Jerusalem, describes the calamity in a letter he sent to the Chatam Sofer.
Another description of the disaster is found in a different letter, which R. Yisrael of Shklow sent to R. Tzvi Hirsch Lehren, informing him that the Rebbe Avraham Dov of Ovritsh and R. Gershon Margolies (whose stamps appear on this leaf) both survived the earthquake.
R. Yisrael of Shklow regarded the earthquake as a sign of the approaching Redemption (in accordance with the saying of the sages: "With the approach of Mashiach, the Galilee will be destroyed"), yet the Chatam Sofer attributed it to a different cause. In a eulogy he delivered on "the death of Tzaddikim and the destruction of the Galilee" in the Pressburg synagogue, in Iyar that year, the Chatam Sofer asserted that the earthquake came as a retribution for the fact that the immigrants preferred Safed over the holy city of Jerusalem.
Rebbe Avraham Dov of Ovritsh, signatory of this appeal, suffered greatly during the Peasants' Revolt in 1834, and most his possessions were looted. He then miraculously survived the earthquake in 1837. The miracle of his rescue is well-known. As mentioned, the earthquake struck during Mincha. Rebbe Avraham Dov warned his Chassidim not to leave the synagogue, and he lay on the floor of his Beit Midrash, surrounded by the congregants, who were clutching his belt. The entire building collapsed, apart from the small area where he and his Chassidim lay (the Rebbe later related that he recognized that the earthquake was not a natural event since the stones were cast to the sides and did not fall directly to the ground, in defiance of the laws of gravity. He understood that great power had been granted to the Satan, and he therefore lay submissively on the ground in fulfillment of the verse "Hide for but a moment, until the wrath passes"). This letter was written approximately a month following the earthquake. R. Yisrael of Shklow and his colleagues left Safed in the wake of the earthquake, and established the Perushim community in Jerusalem. A year later, Safed was once again looted by Druze tribes, and during that time Rebbe Avraham Dov of Ovritsh was captured, and was only released once the community paid his ransom.
Rebbe Avraham Dov of Ovritsh (1765-1840), a renowned Chassidic leader. He was a disciple of Rebbe Nachum of Chernobyl and his son R. Mordechai, as well as of R. Zusha of Anipoli and R. Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. He also associated with the Rebbe of Apta, R. Yisrael of Ruzhin, R. Aharon of Chernobyl and R. Aharon of Zhitomir. He served for a short while as rabbi of Chmelnik (Khmilnyk), yet most of his life (for some forty years), he was the rabbi of Ovritsh, by which name he was known for posterity. In 1825, he moved to Zhitomir where he was appointed head of the Beit Din.
In 1833, he immigrated to Eretz Israel, settling in Safed, where he established his Beit Midrash and served as rabbi and leader of the Chassidic communities in Safed. Through his illustrious personality, he brought together all sections of the Chassidic community, and created bonds with the Sephardi and Perushim communities. R. Yisrael of Shklow, disciple of the Gaon of Vilna and head of the Perushim community, held him in high esteem, and they together managed all communal matters. His study companion was R. Leib Baal HaYisurim. He drew many to repentance, and would advise them to engage in the study of Mishnayot.
Following the earthquake, he helped rebuild the Safed community, and did not allow the holy city to be abandoned. He perished in a plague in 1840, and with his passing, the plague ceased. He was buried in the Safed cemetery, close to the gravesites of R. Aryeh Leib of Volochysk and R. David Shlomo author of Levushei Serad. Many miraculous stories are told of his exceptional holiness and ability to bring salvations for the Jewish people. (Until this day, the Bat Ayin Beit Midrash in the Old city of Safed holds his chair, his Torah scroll with the original Torah ark and Bimah, and other holy items belonging to him, and the gabbaim report of miraculous salvations which occurred to people after sitting on his chair). His book Bat Ayin was printed in Jerusalem, 1847 and in Zhitomir in 1850, in different editions, and is considered a basic book of Chassidic teachings.
Large leaf, 68 cm. Good condition. Thick paper. Stains. Folding marks. Several tears to folds.
Provenance: the collection of Jean-Jacques-Pierre Desmaisons (1807-1873), Russian Orientalist and diplomat, professor of Oriental languages.