"May you be signed and sealed for a good year" – colorful lithograph (Monsohn press), with a letter handwritten, signed and stamped by R. Yosef Arvatz, the Sepahrdic rabbi of Jaffa. Jaffa, Elul [1911]. Illustration of the Temple Mount with the Mosque of Omar, Me'arat Hamachpela (Cave of the Patriarchs) and the Western Wall.
Written in handsome Oriental Rashi script to his colleague R. David Matitya: "…I have never and will never forget your love, which is more valuable to me than all the world's wealth, and I always desire to hear good tidings from you…I hereby bless you with a good sweet year, and may you be worthy of many good and pleasant years to come, Amen…Yosef Arvatz Se"t, rabbi of Jaffa."
R. Yosef Arvatz (1847-1925) was born in Rabat, Morocco, and immigrated to Jerusalem, where he studied in the local yeshivot. He served as dayan (religious judge) on the Jerusalem Beit Din, and was considered among the leading Sephardic rabbis of the city. He lived in Jaffa from 1903-1925, and served as unsalaried rabbi of the Sephardic community of the city. He authored Hod Yosef, three sections (Jerusalem, 1910).
[1] leaf. 30 cm. Good condition. Stains. Folding marks and light wear.