Letter to Yemenite Chief Rabbi Shalom Iraqi

The son of a valiant man, who had done mighty deeds, of Kabzeel (2 Samuel 23:20), who stands in the congregation of God (Psalms 82:1), the shepherd of Israel, who feeds the holy flock in a good pasture (Ezekiel 34:14) and pastures of peace. He is adorned with three crowns: the crown of Torah; the crown of priesthood; and the crown of a good name, which is above the other two [see m. Avot 4:13]. He pursues them, and passes on safely (Isaiah 41:3), he is a bright light, like the mountains of Zion, and a shelter for the poor, as the paupers of Israel eat from his bread, the bread of his God, from the most holy (Leviticus 21:22). And also the priests who draw near (Exodus 19:22), drawing near for peace; his two hands earn double merit, like the Pairs,¹ one for law and justice and the other for charity and mercy. Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace (Psalms 85:11); is he not the longing of nobles, and he stands over the prince of princes (Daniel 8:25), the lofty scholar, the lord, our honorable teacher, R. Shalom ben Aaron ha-Kohen, may the Merciful One guard and redeem him, may he shine like the day, and his throne be established [see 1 Kings 2:45], and may his kingdom be ever increased by the Lord, who desires peace.

First and foremost, in all its details—all her paths are peace (Proverbs 3:17)—is the stable fund, collected by the wise, the coins of blessings, which absorb three types of blessing as one:² the treasuries of life; the treasuries of peace; and the treasuries of blessing [see b. ḥagigah 12b]. We left today and arrived today,³ to solace ourselves with loves [see Proverbs 7:18], an eternal love and esteem for the holy [ḥibat ha-kodesh]; this is Jerusalem, may it be rebuilt and established. It is out of faith that the complaint found a place to rest, though a hidden love.

From the day our messenger, the great, mighty, perfect scholar, our honorable teacher, Judah Diwan, may his Rock protect and sustain him, left your place on his travels, from that day until now, we have heard nothing from him, neither written nor verbal communication. Although on several occasions we ourselves sent word to his eminency, messages of encouragement and peace, we did not receive an answer; “the answer went away”;⁴ there is no voice, nor any that answers (1 Kings 18:26). We do not know the reason for this silence. It is true that the place is far away, and letters often get lost en route. Nevertheless, we are puzzled as to why we have not received from him even a single word over all these years. In any case, from now on we would like to receive an account, as in past times, with “two letters adjacent to previous writing” [m. Shabbat 12:4], in which he informs us of his welfare, his success, and his state of health, for in these we delight. May he be enthroned forever (Psalms 61:8) by the bearer of blessings, satisfied with favor and full with the blessing of the Lord (Deuteronomy 33:23), with all types of goodness, Amen, so may it be His will.

Regarding the consecrated funds through which he vowed to adorn the house of God in Jerusalem, we have already informed him that that from the day the aforementioned messenger left Yemen until now, no money from the funds of the honorable scholar has come into our possession, or to the hands of our representative in the holy city, apart from on one occasion. This came about through one R. Noah Suissi, from Cairo, Egypt, as it was discovered that consecrated money from Yemen had come into his possession. He had intended to misappropriate the holy funds, but after much effort they were successfully extracted from him and given to Jerusalem—a sum of five hundred kuruş, including approximately two hundred and fifty Venetian ducats.

We have therefore come before his excellency with these lines, that for the sake of Zion and Jerusalem he will not hold his peace [see Isaiah 62:1], and he will gather in his arms [see Isaiah 41:11] anything that belongs to the collected funds for the holy city of Jerusalem, and send them speedily via Egypt, by means of the lofty scholar, the lord, our honorable teacher, R. Jacob Laniado, may his Rock protect and sustain him. He has been chosen for this mission because he delights in kindness [see Micah 7:18] and all his work is done in faithfulness [see Psalms 33:4]. Alternatively, if he prefers he may send them via Basra and Baghdad, through the senior minister our honorable teacher, R. Moses Bekher Mordechai. Hurry, and bring everything that has been vowed and donated for Jerusalem, as it is time to be gracious to her (Psalms 102:14), the camp of the divine presence, for the numerous terrible troubles that have become entangled her around the neck in recent times. For while the residents of the holy city have increased, and the yeshivot have increased, there has been an increase in plots against them, by powerful people who devour Israel with an open mouth. When God brought a famine upon the land, the Arabs blamed our people for the rise in prices, and when they lacked food, they cast an evil libel against the Jews, and this caused them wrongfully to suffer from a great dispersion. . . . Furthermore, it became necessary to rebuild the community of the holy city, including study halls and the courtyards for the poor that are adjacent to the great synagogue, and they had to incur great expenses in order to stop slanderous talk.

In light of all these unfortunate incidents and misfortunes, we agreed with the heads of the yeshivot in Jerusalem to send a mitzvah emissary throughout the diaspora, to encourage people to give to this charitable cause, that they should hand over all their standard dues and the money they vowed, everything that they are already obligated to give, as well as future charitable donations for ten years’ time, as required by the needs of the hour. We indeed carried out these plans, as we sent delegates by sea to the great Turkish kingdom and all the kingdoms of the north, the cities of Europe. When we saw the many dangers posed to emissaries along the route to Yemen, and the great public burden and expenses such trips entailed, we delayed these missions temporarily. We are sending a written appeal warning you to fulfill your duty regarding all your vows and contributions, each of the dues that you are obligated to give to date, as all Israel has a share in the beautiful land. We add that if you refuse to listen, we will have to send a mitzvah emissary there, who will stand at the entrance to the city gates and cry out until he has collected all to which he is entitled.

His excellency is wise and knows how much trouble and toil this will cost them and the messenger, and therefore our advice is that he should make every effort and go beyond his means to repay his dues and donations in one of the two aforementioned ways. We have faith that surely then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasant to the Lord (Malachi 3:4). We await his fine response to know what has been done.

For this good deed and mitzvah, the honorable scholar will receive an especially elegant letter from the court of the Gaonim and rabbis of Constantinople, may God protect them, to his excellency, regarding the dealings of the late scholar, R. Shabbetai Ko[p], may his soul rest in peace, and which will appoint him for this mitzvah together with contemporary rabbis. We too add our own request, that if he has in his possession something from the estate of the late rabbi, whether money or items of value, [ . . . ] he should bring them through one of the aforementioned routes to the great court in Constantinople, and act properly by distributing them fairly. We are sure that he will do this with great vigor, and you will find grace and good favor in the sight of God and man (Proverbs 3:4).

Between the writing and signing of this letter, we received a few words from the rabbi [Laniado] in Aleppo, and he claims that your honor sent a certain sum via the city of Aleppo to the honorable R. Obadiah Parache, for the three holy cities, but the contributions have not yet reached us. May his honor please inform us of the amount of consecrated money, and the share that belongs to Jerusalem, and he should complete the allotted sum of the holy city until the last penny, so that the messenger should not have to go to the trouble of traveling to his place.

We pray that the righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon (Psalms 92:13) [ . . . ], and may you receive the conclusion of all blessings in the Temple, as befitting his lofty soul, and the soul of those who trust in his affection, the court officials of the city of Constantinople.