Lot 375
Letter of Polemic and Reproof to Slanderers in the Home of Rabbi Shaul Av Beit Din of Amsterdam - Amsterdam, 1788
Manuscript, copy of a long letter of polemic and reproof, written by Rabbi Itzik Renziburg, to Rabbi Ber Buki. Amsterdam, Purim 1788.
“Copy of a letter written by R’ Itzik Renziburg to Ber Buki from Poland, with his signature at the end, and he sent it on Sunday Purim 1788”. Rabbi Itzik Renziburg, a Torah scholar and an influential leader of the Ashkenazi Amsterdam community and renowned for his hospitality, hosted Rabbi Ber Buki from Poland in his home and sustained him for some time. At a certain stage, due to sharp arguments regarding matters of faith and philosophy, their ways parted and from that time, Rabbi Ber slandered and besmirched Rabbi Renziburg and the members of his household “and especially in the home of the Av Beit Din” [Rabbi Shaul Av Beit Din of Amsterdam].
The letter is written in flowery language, with puns and verses and sayings of our Sages. The content: Reproof for ungratefulness, accusations for pretense, for wearing strange clothing, and a false story as if his Shabbat clothes were used as collateral in the home of the Av Beit Din Grigen. The writer accuses Rabbi Ber that while he was in Berlin, he studied and conducted himself as a (university) student, yet at the time he arrived in Amsterdam, he presented himself as a Torah scholar and participated in the Torah lectures of the rabbi “The Head of our Generation”. The second part of the letter dwells upon matters of philosophy and faith.
[6] written pages, 37.5 cm. Fair condition, wear and tears to the paper margins and to the folds, with minor damages to the body of the text. Stains.
