1. Pamphlet Shalom Shalom v’Ein Shalom, “which clarifies who are those who delay peace in God’s city…” by the Adat Sefardim Vaad, Jerusalem 1894/5. 32 pages. The National Library has a defective copy. Rare booklet not previously found in auctions. Stains, light tears, overall good condition.
2. Pashkvil “Chazot HaKol”, “a response letter from a Jerusalemite to one of the gedolim of the time about the fight between the Sefardim and the Ashkenazim…” 4 pages signed at the end “A.Y. Shapira”, but that is a pseudonym and the author and publisher are unknown. But this copy has an interesting inscription which perhaps sheds light on the publisher, the inscription is addressed to the Rashaz Rivlin from his brother-in-law, in which he reveals that his father Rabbi Yosef Rivlin is the author of the work. Jerusalem, Sivan 1894. Rare booklet not seen previously in auctions. Stains, light tears, overall good condition.
The controversy over the kollels was a painful issue that was a source of controversy between Sephardim and Ashkenazim in the old yishuv. Mizrahi Jews claimed that true peace would be brought about by uniting the kollels under one roof, but they encountered the Ashkenazi insistence on keeping the separation intact, the main argument was that most funding came from Ashkenazi lands and would be unfair to divide it with those from Eastern countries. A similar claim was heard in the countries of origin who wanted to subsidize their relatives and acquaintances and not people from other provinces. These pamphlets are a rare glimpse into this charged subject, at first words of protest and an explanation of who are in dispute in the eyes of the members of the Sefardi kollel. And in the second there is the position of the Ashkenazi side.
