Handwritten letter requesting to support the settlements of the Vilna Gaon's disciples in Safed and Jerusalem. Signed by the disciple of the Gaon of Vilna – R. Yisrael of Shklow, and by other leading disciples. Jerusalem and Safed, Kislev 1830.
An individualized request letter, to be used by the emissary R. Tzvi Hirsh son of R. Yehuda, with a blank space intended for the name of the donor.
Signatures of R. "Chaim Kohen, formerly Rabbi of Pinsk and the region" [Rabbi of Pinsk for 20 years, where he was accepted by the Chassidim as well; immigrated to Safed in 1826 and served in its rabbinate until his death in 1831]; R. "Yisrael, author of Taklin Chaddetin, of Safed" [R. Yisrael of Shklow, disciple of the Gaon of Vilna]; R. "Aryeh Leib son of R. Yosef Leon" [one of the heads of the Ashkenazi settlement in Safed]; R. "Shlomo Zalman son of R. Z. Wolf HaKohen" [Eretz Israel emissary, father-in-law of R. Yaakov Sapir, passed away in 1847 in Calcutta, India]; R. "Natan Notte son of R. M. Mendel of Jerusalem" [known as "the great R. Notte" (d. 1846 in Jerusalem), a leader of the first aliyah of the Vilna Gaon's disciples in 1809; his father, R. Mendel of Shklow, immigrated one year earlier in preparation for the 1809 aliyah]; R. "Natan Notte son of R. Saadia of Jerusalem" [R. Notte (d. 1849) was a righteous man, who merited serving the Gaon of Vilna, reciting Mishnayot for him; his father, R. Saadia, was the head of the Gaon's disciples in Jerusalem]; R. "Tzvi Hirsh son of R. Zerach Shapiro of Jerusalem" [his signature does not appear on most other copies of this letter]; R. "Aryeh son of R. Yerachmiel, trustee of the Jerusalem Kollel" [R. Aryeh Leib son of R. Yerachmiel Markus of Keidan (1800-1877), trustee of the Kollel HaPerushim in Jerusalem and one of the founders of the Churva Synagogue].
[1] leaf. 24 cm. Good condition. A few stains. Minor marginal worming.