Manuscript, responsum handwritten and signed by R. Yitzchak Moshe Abulafia, regarding the Damascus rabbinate polemic. [Damascus, ca. 1897].
Handwritten by the author, with deletions and marginal additions.
The present responsum was published by R. Yitzchak Moshe Abulafia in his book Pnei Yitzchak, with all identifying details changed, though it in fact pertains to the controversy which arose in 1897 over his own rabbinic position.
This sharp responsum was composed by R. Yitzchak Abulafia after some Damascus community members attempted to dismiss him from his position, and appoint in his stead R. Shlomo Eliezer Alfandari (the Saba Kadisha). R. Abulafia rules that bringing a new rabbi is an encroachment on the rabbi's position and is halachically forbidden. R. Abulafia's signature is followed by an addition written after the arrival of the new rabbi. Some time after R. Alfandari settled in Damascus, the rabbis recognized each other's prominence and worked together on the rabbinate.
The present manuscript includes the final 8 leaves of the responsum in R. Abulafia's handwriting, including his signature and the addition, signed again by R. Abulafia. The responsum was published based on the present manuscript.
The deleted lines in the present manuscript were not published.
R. Yitzchak Abulafia (1824-1910), Torah scholar in Eretz Israel and Syria. Dayan and rabbi in Tiberias, and later chief rabbi of Damascus (from 1873), until the community members appointed R. Alfandari in his stead. A prominent halachic authority.
[8] leaves (incomplete). Some leaves bound out of sequence. 18.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Tears to several leaves. Minor worming. New binding.

PLEASE NOTE: Item description was shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.