Kuntres Halachah LeMaaseh, on shemitah produce, letters sent to the rabbis of Jerusalem, by R. Yaakov David (Wilovsky), Rabbi of Slutsk and Safed. Jerusalem, shemitah year [1910].
On endpaper, lengthy dedication by the author to R. Shlomo Mannes, Rabbi of Schwabach, requesting him to assist the Torah students in the Safed yeshiva. The Ridvaz recounts his efforts to promote the shemitah in the previous year (1910), opposing the settlers who desecrated the holiness of the Land. He recounts that those who did not observe shemitah the previous year were punished with low quality produce and impoverished. He stresses the importance of Torah study in Eretz Israel, without which "the Land of Israel would become the Land of Canaan, exactly like the cities of France…".
The letter appears to be In the handwriting of the Ridvaz, but the signature Is In his stamps (one stamped signature and another official stamp in Hebrew and Latin letters).
The Ridvaz – R. Yaakov David Wilovsky (1845-1913), was a prominent Torah scholar renowned since his youth as a leading Torah scholar in his generation. He served as rabbi in several locations, including Slutsk, Chicago and Safed. He authored many books, yet his magnum opus remains his comprehensive commentary on the Talmud Yerushalmi, included in most editions of the Yerushalmi.
In the shemitah year of 1910, the Ridvaz fought to strengthen the observation of shemitah in Eretz Israel, but his efforts were not well received by the mostly secular Second Aliyah, and were actively opposed by the French representatives of Barons Rothschild and Hirsch.
[2], 7 leaves. Approx. 22.5 cm. Very brittle and dry paper. Fair-poor condition. Marginal open tears. All leaves and binding detached and placed in a nylon folder.
PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.
