Journal of protocols and lists, of the "Grand Beit Din of all the Ashkenazi communities" in Jerusalem, from 1929-1971. Contains dozens of notebooks of form stubs from orders sent to litigants to appear for Beit Din sittings, completed by hand.
A journal of the Beit Din, containing abridged protocols of sittings and rulings, primarily copies of court rulings and copies of letters sent by the Beit Din to various destinations in Eretz Israel and abroad and various memorandums as well. Various declarations signed by litigants and witnesses, rabbis and shochtim.
Jerusalem archive of great historical value composed of thousands of items, data and names of Jerusalem residents and institutes. Rulings, declarations and internal memorandums of various issues related to kashrut and shechita, public institutes, trade and craftsmen, rental fees and real-estate contracts, Pruzbuls, confiscations and eviction of residents, testaments and inheritances, marital peace issues, gittin and kidushin. [Many inscriptions and testimonies of marriage annulments from the 1930s – at which time many single men and women immigrated to Eretz Irael using fictitious marriages which enabled two single individuals to immigrate using one immigration certificate]. Permits for agunot, protocols and testimonies for marriage permits for Holocaust survivors whose spouses were murdered in the extermination camps.
The “Grand Beit Din for all Ashkenazi Communities” is the veteran court of Rabbi Shmuel Salant which was established in 1841 and for many years was situated in an office in the courtyard of the Churva synagogue. Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank was already appointed as rabbinical judge during the lifetime of Rabbi Shmuel Salant, and was eventually appointed Av Beit Din. During the time of the documents in this archive, the rabbinical court operated primarily in the Meah She’arim neighborhood, in the “Hachnasat Orchim Courtyard” and was composed of the following members: The Ga’avad Rabbi Zvi Pesach Frank, Rabbi Yosef Gershon Horwitz, Rabbi of the Meah She’arim neighborhood, Rabbi Eliyahu Romm, Rabbi Avraham David Rosenthal and others. Most of the lists are handwritten by Rabbi Chaim Shlomo Rosenthal and his son, Rabbi Avraham David Rosenthal (Rabbi of the Sha’arei Chessed neighborhood, who first served as rabbinical court scribe, and was later appointed member of the Beit Din and eventually became Av Beit Din), with many signatures in their handwriting. Lists which were apparently written by Rabbi Zvi Pesach Frank, Av Beit Din and Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem appear in various places in the notebook of protocols.
Beit Din journal, over 155 written pages (many empty leaves), 28 cm. Good-fair condition.
23 notebooks of stubs, 13.5 cm. Fair condition. Wear and moisture stains.