Beit Knesset HaGadol in Tel Aviv - Giant Collection of Letters, Publications and Documents

Beit Knesset HaGadol in Tel Aviv - Giant Collection of Letters, Publications and Documents

Giant collection of documents and letters [mosty stencil prints with signatures] published by the administration of the Beit Knesset HaGadol in Tel Aviv regarding the administration of financial and cultural aspects of the synagogue. 1930s-1980s. 

Include rare booklets published by the trustees and administrators of the synagogue in the 1930s and 1940s:

* Seder Tefilat Hodaya V'Azkara L'Chalalei Ameinu BiYom Nitzachon 27th of Iyar 1945. The prayer was led by Cantor Joshua Dlin with choir conducted by Joshua Dlin - booklet with special prayers marking the end of the Second World War. Rare.

* Chazon Binyamin ben Yaakov - speech delivered by the noted philanthropist, patriarch of the new yishuv in Eretz Yisrael, Baron Binyamin Edmond Rothschild [whose donation enabled the completion of the synagogue in 1925], in the Tel Aviv Beit Knesset HaGadol on the 23rd of Iyar 1925. The booklet was published in 1945 to mark the twentieth anniversary of his speech and the tenth annivesray of his death on the 24th of Cheshvan 1935. Worming holes.

* Din V'Cheshbon shel Chevrat L'Gemillut Chassadim named for HaRav Yevzerov z"l  on the 30th of Elul, 1937. Tel Aviv. This booklet includes a printed list of loan amounts that were returned to the synagogue fund and a lengthy list of donor names. 

* Chevrat Ein Yaakov V'Shas. Tel Aviv, without year - 1930s. The booklet includes the bylaws of the "Ein Yaakov V'Shas Society" of the Beit Knesset HaGadol in Tel Aviv, including the names and addresses of its members.

* Yizkor leaf published by the synagogue for the Holocaust victims - Erev Yom Kippur 1949. Preface describing the loss [about six million Bnei Yisrael, ten times more than the number that left Egypt, sanctified G-d's name with their death. Along with a yizkor prayer with unique text "millions of Yisrael, men women little boys and girls that were killed and slaughtered, burned and drowned, strangled and buried alive in Germany and countries that it captured ...]

It additionally includes original documents regarding the day-to-day administration of the synagogue: hundreds of receipts with requests to borrow funds, including the names of the borrower and personal details - 1950s-80s; ledger with donor names; ledgers from the synagogue Gemach fund; protocols of the Gemach fund official meetings; bylaws of the Ein Yaakov and gemilut chassadim societies, printed by stencil; letters to borrowers who did not pay back their debts ['since you have not responded to previous warnings and have again not yet paid according to what was agreed and promised by your dear mother, you are demanded to pay for the last time the rest of the debt from the loan that you received from us']; letters printed by stencil on behalf of the the Vaad Beit Knesset to the representive of the Beit Knesset HaGadol in Britian and representative of Barbados Mr. Teddy Binyamin Reitman - Iyar 1980  - and letters from him to the synagogue administration; various letters from the synagogue administration to the central administration of the bank A"Y in Britain asking for funds to cover the increase of activities in the synagogue and to increase cultural activities over and above the lectures and prayers [1970s] with various financial details [we also want to note that this magnificent lofty synagogue from which the light of Torah shines forth is an economic boon since it draws thousands of tourists and guests, Jews and non-Jews who visit annually...]; invitation to a festive thanksgiving prayer on Yom Haatzmaut 1967 with a scheduled speech by the Chief Rabbi of Israel Isser Yehuda Unterman.

The cornerstone of the Beit Knesset HaGadol in Tel Aviv, on the corner of Allenby and Echad Ha'Am Streets, was laid in 1924. The Synagogue was designed by architect Yehuda Magidovitch. Construction was completed in 1925, when a large donation was received from Baron Rothschild. The building was designed by the best engineers of the era - builder Shmuel Nosson Wilson and its dome engineered by Arpad Geuthe. Over the years, many changes and renovations were made to the building. In addition to hosting prayers and Torah lectures it was also used for cultural and communal events. Each week, the synagogue hosts neighborhood rabbis, city rabbis and well-known lecturers alongside MKs, public figures and foreign tourists. Every Shabbat famed cantors lead the prayers, and are often accompanied by choirs. 

Hundreds of leaves of paper within original synagogue binders. The collection has not been thoroughly inspected.

Varying conditions: Moderate-very fine.