Rare Missive Handwritten and Signed by Rabbi Chaim Shlomo Abulafia – Damascus, 1824 – Has Not Been Printed

Rare Missive Handwritten and Signed by Rabbi Chaim Shlomo Abulafia – Damascus, 1824 – Has Not Been Printed

A missive sent to the philanthropist Chaim Shabtai Sipilli of Ancona. Handwritten and signed by Rabbi Chaim Shlomo Abulafia. Damascus, the 17th of Tevet, 1823.

In the missive, the rabbi appeals to the leader sand rabbis of the Ancona community, among them the rabbi of the town Rabbi Yeshaya Azulai (the son of the Chida) to help the residents of the holy city of Tiberias. Among others, Rabbi Abulafia mentions the fact that several other communities of the Diaspora have answered his plea and have come to the aid of the Jews of Tiberias. Therefore, he is now appealing to the Jews of Ancona. Later in the missive, rabbi Abulafia appeals to the genius Rabbi Yeshaya Azulai who served at the time as th erabbi of Ancona and so he writes: "Like a shofar raise your voice the voice of the Torah in Ancona and Sinigalia and Pissarro to give their sacrifice to the minister … Ya'akov Menirvi in Trieste and his hand is like my hand and a negative answer I will not accept and the man who does my bidding a good blessing will be upon him … the words of the young Chaim Shlomo Abulafia S.T.". These lines were written by Rabbi Abulafia in very large Assyrian script. (Most likely due to Rabbi Yashaya Azulai's old age and his difficulty to read small script. Rabbi Yeshaya died in Shevat 1826).

At the end of the letter there are two additional lines in Sephardi cursive script. Then there are two curly signatures of his. The signatures appear twice, most likely, to prevent any doubt that the letter was not written by him.

Rabbi Chaim Shlomo Abulafia – "the significant rabbi and well-known for his modesty and fear of sin" (quoted from his letter of emissary) was called "The Miracle-Worker". Shadar of Tiberias, great-grandson and grandson of Rabbi Chaim Abulafia author of the book "Etz Chaim", father of the Jewish settlement in Tiberias. He was sent to the cities of Europe in 1816 and he spent there four years. In 1829 he was against sent by the rabbis of Tiberias to Italy and Tunis, where he was titled "the Miracle-Worker".

The missive before us was never printed!

[1] large leaf. 32x43cm. Good condition. Quality leaf. Fold marks.