Archive of the Etz Chaim Yeshivah - The Oldest Yeshivah in the Land of Israel. Jerusalem, 20th Century

Archive of the Etz Chaim Yeshivah - The Oldest Yeshivah in the Land of Israel. Jerusalem, 20th Century
Treasure trove of hundreds of certificates and documents, some of which are extremely rare, from the Mandate era through 1975, related to the Etz Chaim Talmud Torah and yeshivah - the oldest yeshivah in the Land of Israel. The collection includes hundreds of items, with names of thousands of the yeshivah's rabbis and students, donors from the Land of Israel and abroad, public institutions which were connected to the yeshivah, and much more. The collection constitutes an important, unique and authentic source of information for scholars of the Old Yishuv, and especially scholars of the period in general.
Highlights:
* Keren Torah U'Binyan, a booklet which was printed after the inauguration of the new building in the Machaneh Yehudah neighborhood. It includes original photographs of the event. With recommendations from the chief rabbis: Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook and Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld.
* Rare booklet of melodies by Rabbi Eliyahu Nachum, son of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Porush. R' Eliyahu Nachum was among the leading activists of Jerusalem, and he served as spiritual dean [משגיח הרוחני] of the Etz Chaim yeshivah together with R' Aryeh Levin. He was musically gifted, and composed many melodies. This book is comprised of musical notes for the liturgical poems of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. Jerusalem, 1944.
* Monetary agreement between the yeshivah administration and the chief rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Herzog.
* Financial documents: bundle of dozens of authentic receipts; a bank statement; telegrams for foreign donors, prayers for their health, etc. Statements from Gema"ch Otzar HaChessed "Keren Shmuel"; a list of "kitchen workers"; the institution's fundraising letters with signatures of principals and roshei yeshivah in Hebrew, English, and Russian[!].
* Educational documents: graduation diplomas for students; drafts of Talmud Torah regulations, including "Latecomers will be fined their bread ration until the next day"; a program for the "prize distribution ceremony" for outstanding students; a rare picture of an Etz Chaim branch in the Zichron Moshe neighborhood, students with their teachers; report of excellence in the classes, with the students' names.
* Dozens of statements of payments made by the institution for various expenses, one receipt is signed by a yeshivah student, R' Yehudah Shapira, who eventually became one of the greatest disciples of the Chazon Ish [rare!]. Among the expenses: Students guarding the dead [!] (one of the "guards" was R' Yehudah ["Yudel"] Rabinowitz, who later became one of the leading rabbis of Jerusalem, loyal assistant of the gaon of Tchebin and one of the roshei yeshivah of Tchebin).
* Recommendation by chief rabbi of Israel Rabbi Yitzchak Nissim (English), for the yeshivah "Itur Rabbanim," which is actually the junior branch of the Etz Chaim yeshivah.
* Typewritten lessons of the rosh yeshivah, the great gaon Rabbi Nota Freund, from 1975.
* Commitment of student A. G.: "To be a good student and to listen to all the lessons. To study well, to behave very well, and to carry out the rabbi shlit"a's instructions. And if I don't behave as written above, I have no place in the cheder. And I have no claims at all."
* Included in the collection: A Matuneh fun Yerushalayim, a publication by the Jerusalem yeshivah, Torat Chaim, in which all of the rabbinical leaders of Jerusalem studied. There are 32 pages in the booklet, including the yeshivah's history accompanied by rare photographs. The Torat Chaim yeshivah was founded in 1886 by Rabbi Yitzchak Winograd. In 1917, its financial situation worsened, and Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk took over responsibility for its support. He was very active in improving its situation. During the 1929 riots with the great Arab rebellion, the Jewish quarter emptied of its residents, and the yeshivah moved to the Achvah neighborhood in the new city. R' Shimon Vinograd, R' Yitzchak's son, took over the yeshivah's administration in 1931. R' Shimon attempted to rejuvenate the yeshivah in the Geulah neighborhood; to this end he published this booklet. Jerusalem, 1933.
The collection is places in two binders. Fine condition.