Auction 75
Lot 137:
The distress and poverty during the years of World War I – Bill of Sale of a Sefer Torah! for the renovation of the ancient synagogue of the Admor Rabbi Aharon of Chernobyl in Safed – signed by Rabbi Manish Steinberg, Rabbi Yosef Zvi Geiger, Rabbi Chaim Zeev Shapira and more – Safed, 1920.
The years of World War I were years of distress and trouble for the Jews wherever they were. Jews from all over the world were forcibly recruited and millions were exiled. The Jews of Eretz Yisrael under the Ottoman Rule suffered twice as much. The men were forced to go into hiding so as not to be recruited and everyone suffered hunger which caused the extinction of almost the entire Yishuv. This is a first-hand testimony about the terrible situation of the Chernobyl Chassidim of Safed, most of whom died during the years of war: "אשר בסיבת גודל המצוקה והדחקות בשנות המלחמה הכללית נעזבה הקלויז, ולא הייתה אפשרות להשגיח על התיקון כלל, ורוב אנ"ש מתפללי הביהמ"ד נפטרו ושבל"ח…" !!! Immediately after the war, the people who survived called a meeting and decided, having no other choice, to sell one of the Sifrei Torah! to finance the renovation of the synagogue: "ואין לנו שום מקור הכנסה לזה, כי נפסקו כל מקורות העזרה מאת אדמו"ר הרבנים הצדיקים שליט"א ממדינת רוסיא, ע"כ החלטנו והסכמנו למכור ספר תורה אחד מביהמ"ד, שיהא לנו על עזר הוצאות התיקון, בכדי להציל בזה את כל בנין הביהמ"ד…".
The document is signed by the follwoing:
– Rabbi Yosef Zvi Geiger, one of the leading activists and artists of Safed
* Rabbi Chaim of Tep
– Rabbi manish Steinberg
– Rabbi Chaim Zeev Shapira
– Rabbi Kehat Tenhois
– Rabbi Chaim Leib Perlman
20X24.5 cm.
Stains. Fold lines. Good condition.
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