Two leaves containing letters from the initial settlers of "Wadi el Chanin" (later: Ness Ziona) and from R. Naftali Hertz Rabbi of Jaffa, regarding the loan of a Torah scroll for the new synagogue being established in the moshava (settlement). Wadi Chanin and Jaffa, Elul 1893.
• Letter addressed to the Maharil Diskin in Jerusalem, signed by the settlers Mordechai Hochberg and Shlomo Yoffe. Their letter is followed by another letter (2 lines) handwritten and signed by R. Naftali Hertz HaLevi Rabbi of Jaffa and the moshavot, confirming that "there is in the Wadi Chanin colony (=moshava), approximately a minyan (prayer quorum) of men who are requesting as mentioned above… Monday, 23rd Elul 1893, so says Naftali Hertz HaLevi, residing here Jaffa".
The settlers relate in their letter that a "large and magnificent house" has been designated as a place of prayer, since the first synagogue (dedicated by R. Reuven Lehrer, founder of the moshava) had grown small for the increasing number of congregants, and the need arose to establish another minyan. They ask of the Maharil Diskin to attempt to obtain for them a "suitable Torah scroll, so that we should be able to pray at any time with a minyan…". They also relate of the need to set up a new synagogue close to their homes, for fear of the Bedouins "who set up their tents not far from us, and we cannot abandon our homes for the High Holidays…", and due to the fact that "during the rainy season, there are months when we will not be able to pray with a minyan".
• Another letter is enclosed, with the signatures of eleven of the first settlers and founders of the community, confirming reception of the Torah scroll, on loan from the Churva synagogue in the courtyard of R. Yehuda HaChassid, and pledging to return it whenever they would be asked to.
These historic documents, from the early years of the moshava Wadi Chanin (later named: Ness Ziona), document the dedication of a public house as synagogue in 1893 - a fact which is not known from other sources ("Mabat el HeAvar" - in the official website of the Ness Ziona municipality, states that only in 1907 was the cornerstone laid for the first public house, which served at one and the same time as a school, synagogue, meeting place, community center and Haganah house. Today this house serves as the Founder's house museum).
The renowned kabbalist, R. Naftali Hertz HaLevi (Weidenbaum) Rabbi of Jaffa (1852-1902), foremost kabbalist in Lithuania and Jerusalem. He was a disciple of the Maharil Diskin. He immigrated to Jerusalem from Białystok in 1884, and was a leading disseminator of Torah in the city. He delivered halachic lectures in the Degel Torah yeshiva which he founded in Jerusalem, as well as profound lectures on Kabbalah (which were attended by even the elder Lithuanian kabbalists in Jerusalem). In 1886, he was appointed by R. Shmuel Salant as rabbi of Jaffa and the moshavot of Eretz Israel, and was the first rabbi of the Ashkenazi community of Jaffa, by appointment of the rabbis of Jerusalem, to oversee the religious matters of the new settlements in Eretz Israel.
[2] leaves. 25.5-29 cm. Good-fair condition. Thin, dry paper, with tears. Adhesive tape to verso.

Manuscript, eulogy sermon on R. Yitzchak Prague Oplatka. [Jerusalem, 1900].
Neat Sephardic script. The manuscript bears the following heading: "A sermon which I delivered upon the conclusion of the month of mourning for my grandfather R. Y. Prague". The writer is presumably R. Chananya Gabriel, who was married to Rachel, granddaughter of R. Yitzchak Prague, whom he refers to in the eulogy as "my wife's grandfather".
"Weeping and lamenting should increase, over the disappearance of a Tzaddik from the world… and his passing is as tragic as the burning of a Torah scroll… who was renowned to all for his great wisdom, his memory was exceptional, and he was like a gushing wellspring, and he enlightened the Torah scholars in Halacha…".
R. Yitzchak Prague Oplatka (1819-1900), a native of Prague and a disciple of the Chatam Sofer in Pressburg. He immigrated to Eretz Israel upon the urging of his teacher and settled in Jerusalem, where he became a prominent figure as a rabbi, physician and communal worker. Upon reaching Jerusalem, he was hosted by the Rishon LeTzion R. Yaakov Moshe Ayash, and thereafter began adopting Sephardi customs and mode of dress, and began speaking Ladino. He married the daughter of R. Ayash, and since then represented the integration between the Ashkenazi and Sephardi communities in Jerusalem. R. Yitzchak was involved in all communal matters in Jerusalem. He was renowned as an outstanding Torah scholar, and even acquired knowledge in medicine. He tended to the sick through various mediums, with medicinal herbs and even hypnosis, and later directed the Meir Rothschild hospital. He was one of the founders of Kollel Hod (Holland-Deutschland), and established and directed the Doresh Tzion boys' school. His granddaughter Rachel, daughter of his son R. Avraham Prague, married R. Chananya Yehoshua Gabriel, a native of Salonika, rabbi and emissary, later head of the Sephardi Beit Din in Jerusalem, author of Minchat HaChag and Shalmei HaChag. He is presumably the author of this eulogy.
[10] leaves (20 written pages). 19.5 cm. Overall good condition. Stains. Ink smudging from dampness, with blurring of text in several places.

Letter signed by R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld. Jerusalem, Cheshvan 1926.
Recommendation to support a Jew from Jerusalem, travelling to Vienna to find a cure for his mute daughter. R. Yosef Chaim relates how tragically, this daughter is the only surviving one of this person's seven children. R. Yosef Chaim notes that the Jew is "a native of Jerusalem, and has never before travelled abroad, and he has no acquaintances or contacts there".
R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld (1849-1932), spiritual leader of Orthodox Jewry in Eretz Israel. Outstanding Torah scholar, a wise and holy man. Disciple of the Ketav Sofer in the Pressburg yeshiva, and of R. Avraham Schag Rabbi of Kobersdorf. He immigrated to Jerusalem in 1873 together with his teacher R. Avraham Schag, and was renowned as one of its leading Torah scholars. He was also reputed for his righteousness and holiness, and was zealously involved in communal and charity matters, operating with great wisdom. When R. Yehoshua Leib Diskin immigrated to Jerusalem in 1879, R. Yosef Chaim cleaved to him, becoming his close disciple and head of his Beit Din. He was the Maharil's right-hand man in the battle against the Christian mission and the Haskala movement, which threatened the old Yishuv in Jerusalem. In 1919-1921, the separate community of Eida HaChareidit of Ashkenazi communities was established, and R. Yosef Chaim was appointed the first rabbi of the Eida HaChareidit earning the title of Mara D'Ara DeYisrael.
[1] leaf, official stationery ("Rabbi of the Askenazi communities in Jerusalem"). 28.5 cm. Typewritten, with his handwritten signature. Good-fair condition. Large dampstains. Wear and folding marks. Minor tears to folds.