The Shechita polemic in Jaffa and Jerusalem! Letter by Rabbi Yaakov Molchov to the Rav of Jerusalem Rabbi ...

The Shechita polemic in Jaffa and Jerusalem! Letter by Rabbi Yaakov Molchov to the Rav of Jerusalem Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld about the Shechita of the Gaon Rabbi Yisroel Nissan Kuperstock of Makov. [Jaffa, 1928]. 

An appeal of Rabbi Yaakov Molchov to the great Gaon Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld about the state of the Shechita and Shochatim in Jaffa under the supervision of the Rav of Makov, the Chassidic Gaon Rabbi Yisroel Nissan Kuperstock. [Jaffa, 1928]. A bitter controversy that divided the Charedi Yishuv in Jerusalem and Jaffa of those years.  

[1] leaf, written on both its sides, 28 cm. 

The content of the letter: Rabbi Yaakov writes that he heard from faithful people that the supervision of the Rav of Makov, who lives in Jerusalem, of the Shechita in Jaffa is terrible and that his Shocatim, who were arrested by the Rabbinate after slaughtering a dangerous beast with an Arab and selling the meat in their slaughterhouse, are continuing their work as Shochatim. His conslusion is that the Rav of Makov's deeds "do not gain us respect" and he asks Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld to inform him "what is the source of this scandalous game". 

Background: The Gaon Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Hacohen Kook was appointed the Rav of Jaffa and the settlements in 1904 and succeeded in uniting the Shechita of the Prushim and Chassidim in the town, while maintaining the customs of the various communities. After the establishment of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, Rabbi Kook demanded not to allow any new Shochet to work as a Shochet and enter the slaughterhouse without the permission of the Chief Rabbinate. Rabbi Kook also forbade to open a new Shechita in Jaffa and saw it as damaging the united Shechita which was supervised by the Chief Rabbinate. In 1927, when Agudas Yisroel left the Knesses Yisroel organization and the National Council, the British government permitted them to establish separate communities that were not subject to the Chief Rabbinate and have their own Shechita.  

In ca. 1924, the Gaon and Posek Rabbi Yisroel Nissan Kuperstock Av Beis Din of Makov immigrated to Jerusalem. He established a special, separate Shechita, undermining the authority of the Chief Rabbinate, and supervised the Shechita in Jaffa, which contributed to the lowering of the price of kosher meat in the city. Some of Rabbi Kook's confidantes questioned this Shechita claiming there were not enough Mashgichim, that the Mashgichim do not behave properly and that the Rav of Makov does not appropriately supervise the work of the Shochatim of Jaffa from his residence in Jerusalem. Rabbi Kook indeed rejected the Shechita of the Rav of Makov, which caused a bitter controversy that divided the Yishuv. Subsequent to his rejection, the Rav of Makov appealed to the rabbis of HaEdah HaCharedis in Jerusalem claiming that the rejection of his supervision was invalid since the Psak Din was given without him receiving the opportunity to plead his case before the Beis Din. The Gaon Rabbi Mordechai Leib Rubin wrote a letter supporting the Rav of Makov. Additional rabbis added their support, including the great Gaon Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld who wrote that 'the honorable Rav the Gaon of Makov will tell them the meat is Kosher and they should not ponder whether they violated the prohibition"

The important Gaon Rabbi Yaakov [Yisroel] ben Rabbbi Eliezer Molchov - a Chabad Chassid and an activist of the Charedi community of Jaffa. Passed away on the sixth of Nissan 1931 and was laid to rest in the Chabad burial plot in the Mount of Olives. 

The Holy Gaon Rabbi Yisroel Nissan ben Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Kuperstock (1858-1930) a Posek, Rav and Av Beis Din of OOdrzywół, Ruzhan, Pshischa and Makov in Poland. In his old age, the Rav of the Alexander Chassidim in Jerusalem. A leading disciple of the Gaon Rabbi Yisroel Yehoshua Trunk of Kutno. The son-in-law of Rabbi Reuven Leib Neufeld Av Beis Din of Novidvor and a close Chassid of his wife's uncle the Holy Rav Rabbi Yechiel of Alexander. Authored the 'Ani Ben Pechama' Shut.

Fold marks, folds to the corner of the leaves. Very good condition.