Ledger of a Hebron fundraiser, Rabbi Chaim Baruch Maistro, to German and Dutch communities from [1814-1815]. Handwritten copy.
[90] leaves, 21x17 cm. Due to the difficult conditions in the Hebron Jewish community and the heavy debts accumulated by the community coffers, Rabbi Chaim Baruch was sent to German and Dutch communities to collect funds to rescue the community. He maintained an organized ledger with a list of donations and other issues regarding his journey. He visited close to one hundred communities – some large cities and some small villages. Donations were also collected from villages surrounding the cities he visited, so many tens of communities with the names of their resident families, community leaders and rabbis of are mentioned.
The large cities he visited included: Frankfurt, Furth, Worms, Karlsruhe, Hanau, Fulda, Ittingen, Wurzburg, Mainz and Amsterdam.
The ledger includes letters of recommendation that the fundraiser received during his trip, including: a letter from Rabbi Asher av"d of Karlsruhe, a son of the "Sha'agat Aryeh"; and a letter from Rabbi Zvi Hersh HaLevi Horowitz, the "Machaneh Levi", rabbi of Frankfurt and the son of the author of the "Hafla'a".
This is a copy of the important ledger with content of first-rate importance regarding the history of German and Dutch communities. Regarding this fundraiser, interesting reactions from the communities and this ledger, refer to: A. Yaari, Shluchei Eretz Yisrael, p. 606-607, and Kiryat Sefer, year 14, p. 392-399.
Blemished binding. Overall fine-very fine condition.