Appointment of the Jerusalem Officials

We, the undersigned, the sages and elders and patrons and officials and leaders of the holy city of Jerusalem, attest a complete and valid attestation, as one who attests before a high court, that we voluntarily and with full agreement, without any trace of coercion, have appointed and authorized seven fully authorized [persons], the eyes of God who stand before the Creator of the Earth, the city of praises, Istanbul, may God bless her and guard her, the official and scribe who performs justice to all, the noble patron of all blessings and praise, R. David Zonana; and the wise, perfect patron R. David Kimhi; and the wise, perfect patron R. Shabbetai Alfandari; and the wise, exalted R. Jacob Alfandari; and the wise, exalted patron R. Moses Asseo; and the wise, exalted patron R. Moses Ashkenazi; and the exalted patron R. Joseph Baruch, may God save and redeem him, fully authorized by means of four cubits of land that we transferred to them from our property. We have given them appropriate power and sufficient authority to be supervisors of all our affairs, to conduct our work, to coordinate the communities of our city, to take care of the poor of our locality, and no man may do anything without their permission. We obligate ourselves totally in a manner that is legally binding and halakhically valid, accepting their authority, following their decrees, listening to their words and acting according to their leadership, according to the path on which they direct us in the force of their wisdom, and keeping all their agreements, whether in matters concerning the expenses of the city for the taxes of the king and officers, or concerning other expenses and the payment of debts, or concerning the arrangements of the income of the holy city and its collection. We have given them appropriate power and sufficient authority to impose and collect and take whatever is needed for the benefit of our community in general and in particular, from all the cities of Rumelia [Greece] and Anatolia [Turkey], from the East and from the West, all the lands of the Moslems [Arabs] until the cities of Yemen, from the Christian countries, Europe and its borders, until the remote islands—the fixed donations, such as the “para” collection, which is famous throughout the Diaspora, for the redemption of the holy city, and the other allotments, funds, pledges, legacies, and collections; and the occasional donations, from anyone who gives a gift of money or a voluntary donation to our community of Jerusalem, and whatever belongs to the benefit of the Torah scholars and the sages in the yeshivas, and from now on, now that the abovementioned noble officials have been appointed, their powers are like ours and their authority is like ours . . . so that whatever will be done and decided or a collection or gift from all the Jewish communities by the abovementioned noble officials will be accepted by us as if it had been done and decided and imposed and collected by us ourselves, without our being able to say to them that we sent them to improve matters and not to make them worse.

And this is what we said to the abovementioned noble officials: “Go and benefit yourselves and others, and whatever opportunities arise, act according to your understanding.”