Writ of Appointment as Torah Teacher

When the heads of the holy nation were assembled together—the holy communities here in the village of Magnesia—and they saw that the power of the testimony was dissipated and there was none remaining, shut up or left at large, no one inquiring or searching for a man of understanding who seeks God, they determined, all as one, to raise up the Congregation Torah Ayelet Ahavim for the governors of Israel, who offered themselves willingly among the people, to save them, to calm them as at other times, as had always been the case with them from ancient times.

Now one day a certain sage, a master of Torah, a special person among the community, the perfect and exalted sage, our teacher, R. Isaac of the House of Hazzan happened to pass through, and the nobles of the people arose, and issued a call to him to elevate him to lofty heights, to set him with princes; and through the agency of the perfect sage, the physician, the exalted prince, our teacher, R. Abraham Shalom, they implored him to consent to the heads of the holy nation, to be their chief and leader and a marbits torah [teacher of Torah] among them. And when the sage perceived that the merit of the public was dependent upon him, he consented to fulfill their request to minister to them in sacred affairs in every way he could. And accordingly, the holy communities, all three of them together, assented, and appointed him as prince and chief over them, to teach Torah among them, to teach them the correct path for a man to follow in regard to Torah, divine service, truth, and peace—so no one might rebel against his word. And the holy communities obligated themselves to grant him a regular weekly salary of eighty levanim [albi, or “white” pennies] as follows: the holy community of Lorca obligated themselves to donate fifty levanim weekly, the holy community of Toledo obligated themselves to donate thirteen levanim weekly, and the holy community of Shalom obligated themselves to donate seventeen levanim—eighty levanim in total. And this amount was to be paid weekly without fail, and he was to be given a residence commensurate with his dignity and allowed all profits accruing to him from scribal work—all such things as arise daily in holy communities, and the proceeds of vows to charity and voluntary offerings and gifts on three occasions, and Purim monies at the times fixed by their custom. And the sage undertook to minister to them and offer blessings on their behalf, according to the good hand of God upon him, in every way he could: to deliver discourses and to fix times for Torah study, to instruct them in the path they should follow as regards divine service from one month to another and from one Sabbath to another, for all flesh to come—if they be pure and upright—to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. And the holy communities further obligated themselves to give twenty gold peraḥim [florins] to the aforesaid sage for traveling expenses, besides the hiring costs of the donkeys required for the transportation of his household. And liability for everything recorded above was for a period of three consecutive years, counting from the day the sage left the city of Adrianople [Edirne] to come here. From thence all the holy communities obligated themselves to pay the aforementioned salary each week until the end of the three full years from the day he left there. And by way of assurance of all the aforementioned, we the undersigned became guarantors, executors, and contracting parties for the payment of everything recorded above, and took an object conferring acquisition, fit for conferring acquisition, into our hands, and swore a stringent oath, accompanied by handshakes, mention of the Almighty’s name—by authority of the All-Present and of those swearing by His name, and of the sage and of expressly named rabbis of Safed, without fraud or contrivance, and revoking all forms of protest—to observe, perform, and fulfill everything recorded above. And it was at the aforesaid sage’s discretion to obtain his entire entitlement from any one of the undersigned, from any community on that community’s behalf, without any protest or doubts whatsoever as to its validity, and without any accusation whatsoever. And likewise, the aforesaid sage obligated himself, by a stringent oath, to come and reside with us in our locality and to fulfill everything aforementioned. And all this took place on Thursday, the fourth of Shevat, in the year 5315 from the Creation [1555], here in the village of Magnesia. And all is fit and sound and established.