Beschreibung:

Handwritten leaf, appeal letter for assistance issued by the Torah scholars of the İzmir community in Turkey in the wake of a large fire which struck the city, addressed to the community of Ancona, Italy, and signed by R. Yehoshua Avraham Yehuda, R. Yehoshua Avraham Krispin and R. Chaim Palachi, with the stamp of the Chacham Bashi Refael Pinchas Yehoshua de Segura. İzmir, Tevet [1841]. Letter appealing for help, written following a large fire which erupted in İzmir on the eve of Av 11, 1841. This fire was recorded for posterity as having consumed dozens of R. Chaim Palachi's manuscript compositions. The letter begins with a description of the difficult state of the city in the wake of the "great sorrow which befell our camp with the fire which G-d set alight…". They describe mostly the destruction of the synagogues, which they maintain were the most magnificent in all of Turkey, and the snatched prayers which were presently being organized in various provisional sites throughout the city, resulting in stumbling blocks such as carrying from one domain to another on Shabbat and other Shabbat desecrations, consequence of the prayers being held in distant locations. They relate that the Torah scrolls, instead of resting honorably in the synagogues, had been dispersed in thirty locations throughout the city so that they can be read in public, which was a disgrace to the Torah scrolls. They therefore request financial support in rebuilding the synagogues, listing the synagogues destroyed by the blaze, including seven major synagogues and two smaller ones. The names of the synagogues appear in the margin of the letter: Algazi, Talmud Torah - two communities, Orchim, Etz Chaim - two communities, Portugal, Geveret and Bikur Cholim. The letter states that an estimated 50000 coins are required per synagogue, even if they are not reconstructed according to their prior glory and magnificence. They write that the wealthy members of the İzmir community are unable to help with rebuilding the synagogues, since they too were affected by the fire. At the end of the first paragraph, the signatures of R. Yehoshua Avraham Yehuda and R. Yehoshua Avraham Krispin appear. It is followed by another paragraph, in which Chacham Bashi Pinchas de Segura and R. Chaim Palachi endorse the appeal, blessing the donors with multiple repayment of their kindness from G-d in gold and silver. At the end of this passage, the signature of R. Chaim Palachi appears, alongside the stamp of "…Pinchas Moreinu, Chacham Bashi of İzmir and its surroundings…" – the stamp of R. Refael Pinchas de Segura – known by the acronym Pardes. The letter was folded and sent by mail, and the verso bears the address inscribed in Hebrew and Italian: "To the honorable treasurers and leaders of the Ancona community…", with post marks. The first signatory: R. Yehoshua Avraham Yehuda (1772-1849), author of Avodat Masa (Salonika 1846), "Rabbi and yeshiva dean of İzmir". A Torah scholar of İzmir, he was responsible for the community taxes, and consequently composed a Halachic work pertaining to the tax regulations in İzmir. In his preface to his book Avoda Masa, he relates that the fire which struck İzmir consumed all his works apart from this composition, which was with him at the time of the fire, while he was staying in a nearby village. He later immigrated to Eretz Israel, lived for three years in Jerusalem and passed away there in 1849 The second signatory: R. Yehoshua Avraham Krispin (before 1785-1855), author of Vayeshev Avraham and Avraham BaMachaze. In his eulogy (Chelkam BaChaim, Homily 7 for eulogy), R. Chaim Palachi describes him as a close neighbor for twenty years, who prayed and studied together with him every evening. He relates that there were never any hard feelings between them, and they were always united in friendship. The third signatory (stamped): the Chacham Bashi, R. Yehoshua Refael Pinchas (Moreinu) de Segura, author of Ot Hi LeOlam, Ot HaBrit and Ot LiYeshua. R. C