Beschreibung:

Emissary letter, lithograph, issued by the Hebron community for R. Suleiman Menachem Mani, Rabbi of the town, as he set out on a mission to India and China. With signatures of the rabbis of Hebron. [Hebron, ca. 1910]. "Blessings of peace like the sand of the seas… our brethren, our saviors, citizens of India and China…". The document makes mention of the decree to draft young Jewish men into the Ottoman army, leaving behind young wives and infants, left wandering the streets in search of a slice of bread. The Hebron community request financial support to assist families of draftees, as well as funds for the hospital they were establishing in the town. Here are two copies of the emissary letter. Each copy is comprised of two leaves. Each leaf contains two facing columns, in Hebrew and English. Both copies bear the handwritten signatures and stamps of the rabbis of Hebron, at the bottom of the second leaf: R. "Rabbenu Meir Franko", R. "Rabbenu Chanoch Hasson", R. Meir Shaul Castille and R. Nissim Chaim Kario. R. Suleiman Menachem Mani (1850-1924) was born in Baghdad to the great Torah scholar R. Eliyahu Mani, author of Siach Yitzchak. He was the son-in-law of R. Moshe Ferreira (rabbi of Hebron). From 1869, he served as head of the Hebron Beit Din and close attendant of the Sdei Chemed. After the passing of the Sdei Chemed, he succeeded him as rabbi of Hebron and headed the Maase Nissim Yeshiva. He left for the Far East ca. 1910 to raise funds for the Hebron community, and these leaves were printed and signed for the purpose of his trip. He succeeded in soliciting large donations from the community of Iraqi Jews in India, and in particular from the Sassoon family, enabling the completion of the building of the Jewish hospital Chessed L'Avraham. The verso of these leaves contain many financial lists, expenditure and income, in contemporary Oriental script. [4] leaves. 30 cm. Fair condition. Stains, tears, folding marks and wear.