Img. ID: 494097
The following description was prepared by William Gross:
Prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, religious establishments in Eretz Israel were dependent on contributions from abroad for their survival. Such institutions included Yeshivas, Orphanages, Soup Kitchens, Traveler Hostels, Hospitals and a variety of other organizations, both large and small. To raise money emissaries were sent from Eretz Israel to visit Jewish communities abroad, to solicit contributions, and to bring the money back. In order to assure the donors that the requests were legitimate, emissary letters – Ktavei Shadar in Hebrew – were prepared and signed by the Rabbis and directors of these institutions. Such documents were both hand-written and printed in great variety.
Usually these fund-collection missions were successful, but at times there were complications and this letter documents such a case. In this case the chief Rabbi of Constantine, Eliyahu Alush, has written to Shmuel Chaim Hacohen, the chief Rabbi of Tiberias from which city the emissary has arrived. He is reporting that the mission has created problems. He tells that the emissary has written to the head of the Jewish Community in Tunis, Yisrael Storah, to complain that a community near Constantine, Tzokars, whose Rabbi, David Rofe, originally came from Tiberias, has not met its obligations. At the end of his long letter, Rabbi Alush has transcribed the letter sent by the emissary and has included testimony to its accuracy by Rabbi David Rofe. This is an interesting aspect to the emissary subject. There is a Kabbalistic manuscript in the Gross Family Collection by a member of the Rofe family of Tiberias.