Beschreibung:

Collection of anonymous handwritten letters sent to R. Shmuel Salant, Rabbi of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, [c. early 1900s]. · Anonymous slanderous letter sent to R. Shmuel Salant opposing the appointment of one of the dayanim as a "second Av Beit Din" in the Beit Din. [Jerusalem, c. early 1900s]. The writer claims that that dayan "although he is a great Torah scholar, is an important trader and not a dayan and we do not know if he even has time to open a book… and his Torah rulings are only based on his deductions and presumptions and not on proficiency…". At the end of the letter, the writer sorrowfully cries out: "Our teacher and our rabbi!... this is a great degradation and humiliation. In the past, the Beit Din of the Perushim congregation was always composed of eminent and erudite Torah scholars… and now on the contrary… Could no great rabbis be found in the Perushim congregation…". The anonymous writer has the temerity to request closing the Beit Din until an appropriate rabbi who can serve as Av Beit Din can be found. He explains that the reason he does not discuss the issue face-to-face with R. Shmuel Salant is because he fears lest that same dayan "take revenge and bear a grudge…". · Anonymous letter by a person who writes in the name of "numerous widows and orphans". · Two anonymous threatening letters sent to R. Shmuel Salant, in which the writers request that he dismiss a person who was one of the heads of the Va'ad Klali close to R. Shmuel Salant, slandering that person and threatening of informing the Turkish authorities of "the illegal immigrants". [Jerusalem, c. 1905. Mentioned in one letter is that R. Shmuel Salant has served as rabbi of Jerusalem for the past 65 years]. According to the style of handwriting, the letters were written by two different people, however they bear the identical threats: "We are not people of speech, rather of deeds…". 4 items, size and condition vary. In some letters, names of people mentioned have been erased with ink and whitener.