A Moment in History: The Heartfelt Initiative of Jewish Women 400 Years Ago

In the year 1650, Rabbi Shmuel Levi appeared in Jewish communities across Eastern Europe. He was a shadar, an acronym for "shelucha derabbanan," essentially a representative from the Land of Israel sent to collect charity for the needy there. While the concept wasn't new, what surprised everyone about this mission was the letter he carried with him.

In those times, without modern communication or identification methods, charity funds were entrusted only to known and reliable individuals who could be trusted to deliver them correctly. To this end, the shadar carried letters with signatures from famous rabbis. Only when the local rabbis recognized these signatures were they permitted to collect donations in the area.

Rabbi Shmuel Levi carried with him a moving letter signed by "Chana, daughter of Rabbi Shmuel from Prague, Mrs. Feigel from Lublin, Mrs. Rivka from Brody, Mrs. Gitle, Mrs. Geront, Mrs. Chana, and Mrs. Yenta from Yevodon" (the ancient name for Buda, which later became part of Budapest in Hungary). These women had bravely immigrated from Europe to the Land of Israel. They reached out in a special plea to the women of Jewish Europe. About 28 women from Europe signed the letter, possibly hoping that women from their hometowns would recognize them and be moved to donate.

These were difficult times in Europe. Following the ordeals of the past decades, the Jewish community had been severely weakened, both physically and spiritually, and regular donations had decreased significantly. Community leaders ruled, according to Jewish law, that "the poor of your city take precedence," and Jewish towns were filled with refugees, orphans, widows, the sick, and those who had lost their livelihoods. They were prioritized for aid.

On the other hand, the mitzvah of settling the Land of Israel had depended for generations on donations from the Diaspora. This was not just a matter of life and death for them, but for the entire Jewish community in Israel, which was no trivial matter!

Due to shortages, Jerusalem's condition worsened. In the small Jewish settlement in Jerusalem, there were 700 widows! Some were refugees from the aforementioned troubles.

This led to the touching initiative by the women of Jerusalem, describing the desperate situation of the lonely women and requesting "not to mix this charity with the money intended for the men of Jerusalem, which is sent every year."

In return for the donations, the women of Jerusalem promised to visit the Western Wall every Monday and Thursday to pray for the donors and to pray for them each month by Rachel's Tomb.

The letter was printed in a special edition, featuring an impressive cover and a picture of the Temple, under the title "Vepoduei Hashem Yeshuvun Uva Tzion Berinah," and marked as "Printed in Constantinople." Avraham Yaari, who republished the letter in our times, notes that it wasn't actually printed in Constantinople. The community feared legal troubles with the Jerusalem authorities over printing a document with financial implications, hence they "virtually relocated" the initiative to a distant place.

The women closed the letter with the words: "We, the women, agreed to entrust this letter to the good Jew, Rabbi Shmuel Levi from the holy community of Frankfurt," and added their signatures.