Leaf with the title “Moser Chayai”, a poem of five stanzas telling the author’s story and the morals to be drawn from it. Ashkenazi script, block letters with niqqud.
It opens: “If I take the lyre, if with my spirit enlighten. / To write in the language of the past to the citizens of the capital”
He laments the death of his uncle, Eliezer Shimon of Frankfurt-am-Mein, a parnas of the Great Synagogue in London.
His uncle seems to have been influential and supported him during his life, but after his death the other parnasim shunted him aside and perhaps prevented him from receiving some emolument.
At the bottom the author’s name appears: “Written in 1845 and given in 1849, the haver Shlomo ben Yeshmiyahu Broch of London the capital”—we were unable to identify the author specifically or his role in the community and would be an exciting opportunity for research!
18x23cm. Creases and light stains, slight tears in the margins, overall good condition.
