Emissary Letter for Rabbi Zerachya Azulai, Father of the Chida – Jerusalem, 1741 – Signed by the Leading Torah ...

Emissary Letter for Rabbi Zerachya Azulai, Father of the Chida – Jerusalem, 1741 – Signed by the Leading Torah Scholars of Jerusalem, Including the Chazon Nachum, the Admat Kodesh, the Chut HaMeshulash, the Pri HaAretz and the Pri HaAdama
Emissary letter appointing R. Avraham son of Asher and R. Yitzchak Zerachya Azulai – father of the Chida, as emissaries on behalf of the Jerusalem community, to travel to Italy and Western Europe. The letter is addressed to the rabbis and dignitaries of the Ancona community, Italy, and is signed by the leading Torah scholars of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, [1741].
Neat scribal script (similar to the handwriting of the Chida). Calligraphic signatures of eight of Jerusalem's leading Torah scholars. The list of signees is headed by the Rishon LeTzion, R. "Eliezer Nachum" – author of Chazon Nachum (1662-1745, renowned rabbi and yeshiva dean in Turkey, immigrated to Eretz Israel were he succeeded R. Binyamin HaKohen Maali as rabbi of Jerusalem). The other signees are the dayanim of his Beit Din – leading Torah scholars of Jerusalem: R. "Nissim Chaim Moshe Mizrachi" – author of Admat Kodesh (ca. 1690-1749, succeeded R. Eliezer Nachum as Rishon LeTzion), R. "Yehuda son of R. Amram Diwan" – author of Chut HaMeshulash (d. ca. 1752), R. "Yisrael Meir son of R. Yosef Mizrachi" – author of Pri HaAretz (d. after 1749. He was the brother of R. Nissim Chaim Moshe Mizrachi and served as dean of the Beit Yaakov Yeshiva), R. "David Yekutiel HaKohen", R. "Yitzchak Aruch", R. "Yaakov Ashkenazi" and R. "Meyuchas Bechor Shmuel" author of Pri HaAdama and Mizbach Adama (1695-1771. Served as Rishon LeTzion following the passing of R. Yaakov Yisrael Algazi).
The letter is addressed to "Our brethren, our saviors in Ancona…", and depicts at length the trials and tribulations the Jerusalem community are undergoing. The Torah scholars of Jerusalem appoint R. Avraham son of R. Asher and R. Yitzchak Zerachya Azulai as emissaries, to raise funds from the Jews of Ancona on behalf of the Jewish settlement in Jerusalem.
Address inscribed on verso "To our dear brethren, the community of Ancona…".
R. Yitzchak Zerachya Azulai (1702-1765) was one of the leading Torah scholars and kabbalists in Jerusalem in his times. A member of the Beit Yaakov study hall, he served as dean of the yeshiva founded by the wealthy Mordechai Tallouk (named Gedulat Mordechai), alongside his brother-in-law R. Yona Navon. He was a dayan in the Batei Din of leading rabbis of Jerusalem, and his signature is featured together with theirs on the city regulations. His eldest son was the Chida, who quotes him extensively in his works. R. Yitzchak Zerachya was the first of a prestigious dynasty of four generations of emissaries who travelled abroad on behalf of Eretz Israel: his son the Chida – a renowned emissary, his grandsons R. Avraham Azulai and R. Refael Yeshaya Azulai (sons of the Chida) and later, the grandson of R. Refael Yeshaya (son of his son R. Moshe) – R. Yehuda Zerachya Azulai.
R. Yitzchak Zerachya's companion, R. Avraham son of R. Asher (d. 1772), served as head of the Jerusalem Beit Din and dean of the Yefa'er Anavim yeshiva. In 1771 (following the passing of R. Meyuchas Bechor Shmuel, one of the signees of this letter), he was appointed Rishon LeTzion and rabbi of Jerusalem, yet he passed away a year later during an epidemic. While in Constantinople on an earlier mission on behalf of the Jerusalem community, in 1734, he published the book Shaarei Kedusha by R. Chaim Vital, based on a manuscript he found in Egypt. R. Avraham completed the mission documented in this letter on his own, after R. Yitzchak Zerachya took ill upon reaching Constantinople and was compelled to return to Eretz Israel. See A. Yaari, Sheluchei Eretz Israel, pp. 389-391. A different letter written for these two emissaries is also featured there.
[1] double leaf. 29 cm. Good condition. A few stains. Folding marks.