Manuscript, Notebook of the Yeshiva L'Rabbanim in NY - Historic Documentation of the Closing of the Rabbi Isaac ...

Manuscript, Notebook of the Yeshiva L'Rabbanim in NY - Historic Documentation of the Closing of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) and the Opening of the Yeshiva L'Rabbanim in NY in 1908 - Sermons of Rabbi Baruch Shapiro
Manuscript, accounting notebook of the Yeshiva L'Rabbanim in NY, with a historical documentation of the closing of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) in New York in 1908 and the founding of the Yeshiva L'Rabbanim. The notebook also contains sermons of R. Baruch Shapiro. [NY, ca. 1909-1910].
Long, narrow notebook for listing the expenses of the Yeshiva L'Rabbanim which was established in NY in 1908 subsequent to the closing of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (which was re-opened at a later time). The notebook was written by R. Baruch Shapiro, who was among the founders of the new institution. The notebook opens with four pages recounting the event surrounding the closing of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and the consequent founding of the Yeshiva L'Rabbanim in its place, including the "labor pains" endured by the founders of the new yeshiva.
This document is an important record of this event. Although, the closing RIETS in 1908 is a well-known fact, the many details surrounding its closure are less know. This notebook contains a detailed testimony recorded by one of the yeshiva students at that time. He begins: "NY 1909… Before I account the expenses of the Yeshiva L'Rabbanim from the day of its founding… it is worthwhile to write a few things for posterity". This is followed by a long narration of the manner in which the yeshiva was closed: "On Thursday night, 24 Av 5668 (20 August 1908), the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Yeshiva was closed in a very unseemly fashion. Mr. [Jonathan] Shepp, the treasurer of the Yeshiva called the police several times to evict the yeshiva students from the building in which they learned. But despite all his efforts, the police declined to harm the students. They remained there despite his displeasure until midnight and then left for their residences". The writer continues by describing the wandering of the students to a number of locations after the closing of the yeshiva and the establishment the Yeshiva L'Rabbanim in its stead, and describes the struggle against the board of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Yeshiva.
In the rest of the notebook, R. Baruch Shapiro wrote his sermons in Yiddish. They appear after several pages of accounting [among the titles: "The weapons of the Jewish People", "Mortal illness", "Sermon for the first day of Rosh Hashanah", "Sermon for Kol Nidrei which I delivered in Mount Vernon (NY) in 1910", "Sermon before Shofar blowing on the second day of Rosh Hashanah", "General sermon, introduction for every Shabbat and Yom Tov during the prayers", "For a brit milah", "For a wedding", "Sermon for a bar-mitzvah, which I delivered on the 10th of Tamuz… 910, on the day of the 13th birthday of my nephew, son of my brother R. M. Daniel Shapiro", etc].
The writer, Rabbi Boruch Shapiro (1883-1970) was born in Smarhon, Lithuania and was recognized as a Talmudic prodigy at an early age. He received ordination from R. Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, author of Or Sameach and from R. Yosef Rosen, the "Rogatchover". At the beginning of the 20th century he immigrated to the US and studied in the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Yeshiva. Since he already possessed rabbinic ordination, he immediately merited a high status in the yeshiva. After RIET was closed in 1908, he was one of the initiators and founders of the Yeshiva L'Rabbanim. After his marriage, he settled in Seattle and was Rabbi of the Machzikei HaDat Synagogue in the city.
More than 150 written pages. Height: 29.5 cm. Width: 13.5 cm. Most leaves are in good condition. The first page is written on the verso of the wrapper, made of brittle paper. The wrapper is detached and has tears, some open, affecting text.
For further information about this manuscript and the events described in the manuscript see: The Seforim Blog, The 1908 Student Strike at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary: A Newly Discovered Document, by Eli Genauer, May 9, 2017.