Rabbi Yechiel Michel Tukachinsky was born in Minsk in 1872. He ascended to the Land of Israel at the age of ten and settled in Jerusalem in the home of his grandfather, the gaon Rabbi M. Pizicher. He was educated at the Etz Chaim Talmud Torah and Yeshivah. In 1890, he married a daughter of Rabbi Binyamin Beinish son of Rabbi Shmuel Salant, rabbi of the city, whose side he did not leave until the end of the latter's life.
When his father-in-law passed away in 1900, he joined the administration of the Etz Chaim yeshivah and in his first years there, he also gave lessons. From that time until his final day, he devoted all his energies to the yeshivah in particular and to the city in general. He initiated the 'exodus' of the yeshivah to the new city - ['Machaneh Yehudah'], and the opening of various branches of "chadarim, " as is depicted extensively in his archive. In addition, he participated very much in establishing neighborhoods outside the walls, which is also well documented in his archive. One of the revelations in the archive is how deeply he was involved in founding the Ashkenazic community in Jaffa from 1895 forward, especially the establishment of the Neve Tzeddek and Neve Shalom neighborhoods, both in their physical and technical aspect and most especially their spiritual aspect: sending rabbis and other spiritual leaders.
Back to the yeshivah in Jerusalem: He commenced several new initiatives to improve and increase the efficiency of the level of studies: He succeeded in influencing the donor R' Zelig Presitz of Moscow to donate 500 rubles each year for the purchase of prizes for students who excel. He then came to an agreement with the philanthropist R' Rephael Shlomo Goetz during the latter's visit to Jerusalem to dedicate a fund for the benefit of those who excel at Jerusalem's yeshivahs.
At the outbreak of WWI, with the troubles that befell the city, he devoted most of his energies to the good of the yeshivah community, and there is fascinating documentation of this in the archive. He took part in the establishment of the "Association of Talmudei Torah and Yeshivahs" to ensure their existence; he greatly assisted R' Yohonatan Binyamin Horowitz in the establishment of soup kitchens. He raised huge sums to support the teachers. Together with R' Zerach Braverman and R' Nachum Rogosnitzky, he founded Yeshivat Bachurim for the select of all the yeshivahs. They divided the lectures among them and provided two meals a day.
Immediately following the British conquest, in the winter of 1917-1918, he participated in the establishment of Va'ad HaRabbanim HaMeuchad and became an active member. When Va'ad HaTzirim came to the Land, Rabbi Yechiel Michel was summoned by Dr. Chaim Weizmann together with the other members of Va'ad HaRabbanim in order to clarify the question as to how to unite all Jewish sects under the Zionist flag. At this tense meeting, he spoke in the name of the rabbis, and expressed their demand as a condition for the participation of Chareidi Jewry: That the Zionist Federation leave education to other public bodies, who will administer it according to their perspectives, thus ensuring the freedom to maintain respectable Torah education. He therefore participated in the early conferences of the National Assembly and even in the large founding conference, as one of 17 representatives of Chareidi Jewry that were a delegation for all the rabbis! However, he did not find a common language between the two sides, and unification of all the Jews did not come to fruition. There is much material in the archive about this fascinating affair.
Spiritual achievements: From his youth, he published many articles in the press in the Land of Israel and in that of the Diaspora - on topics in Torah, settlements and public affairs, in almost all Torah journals. He was also one of the leading experts on customs in the Land of Israel; there was much give-and-take between him and elders of the city. Following this, he initiated the annual publication of Luach Yerushalayim in 1905, a calendar that can be considered his crowning achievement. From that year on, he began publishing essential and useful works: Taharat Yisrael; Hilchot Shevi'it, Tekufat HaChamah, Bein HaShmashot with many tables for halachic times of day, and Sefer HaYomam about the International Date Line. He was therefore involved in the determination of which day Purim was celebrated in the new neighborhoods that were beginning to be constructed outside the walls, and was very involved in the halachic clarification of this complex question. And finally, his monumental Gesher HaChaim about the laws of mourning, and Ir HaKodesh V'HaMikdash. He passed away in Nissan, 1955.
About all these and more, he received letters of Torah from sages and rabbis of the generation, most of which are contained in this rich archive.
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LOT 79:
Mafteach HaParnassah - Amulet Given from the Hands of Rabbi Yeshayaleh of Kerestir. Tried-and-True
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Sold for: $11,000
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10,000
Estimated price :
$20,000 - $30,000
Buyer's Premium: 22%
VAT: 17%
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Users from foreign countries may be exempted from tax payments, according to the relevant tax regulations
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Mafteach HaParnassah - Amulet Given from the Hands of Rabbi Yeshayaleh of Kerestir. Tried-and-True
Amulet on parchment from the hands of the wondrous tzaddik and wonder-worker Rabbi Yeshayaleh of Kerestir, known as 'master of the key to livelihood.' His amulets are known to have effected supernatural miracles. "Expert person expert amulet - it is promised that all his amulets will be effective."
Before us is one of the few surviving amulets with clear family tradition that it was given from the hands of Rabbi Yeshayaleh. This rare amulet survived in a roundabout way through all the wars and upheavals of the world from the days of Rabbi Yeshayaleh to this day. It was guarded with fearsome awe in the hands of the Stein family of Hungary (see attached confirmation). Rabbi Yeshayaleh also instructed that his amulets may be passed on from one to another; the amulets are not specific to the one to whom they are given.
The power to give amulets was received by Rabbi Yeshayaleh from his teacher, Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch of Liska, who received it from his teacher, the author of Yismach Moshe of Ujhely, who, it is known, was very involved in distributing amulets to save the Jewish people. Rabbi Yeshayaleh would direct his scribe to write in Assyrian script, in ink on parchment. Rabbi Yeshayaleh would bless it and give it with his hands to the one who requested salvation. Holy Names are written "ילשת באשר בוליב" (on the top line). These Names are made of the alternate first letters of the verses "May there be peace within your wall, tranquility within your palaces" ["יְהִי שָׁלוֹם בְּחֵילֵךְ שַׁלְוָה בְּאַרְמְנוֹתָיִךְ"] (Psalms 122:7), and "No evil will befall you, no plague will approach your tent" ["לֹא תְאֻנֶּה אֵלֶיךָ רָעָה וְנֶגַע לֹא יִקְרַב בְּאָהֳלֶךָ"] (Psalms 91:10). The second line contains the holy Names: "והאפה הב מוג ולה" which is arrived at from the initials of the verse, "And the men who were at the entrance to the house were struck with blindness from small to large, and they tried in vain to find the entrance." "וְאֶת הָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר פֶּתַח הַבַּיִת הִכּוּ בַּסַּנְוֵרִים מִקָּטֹן וְעַד גָּדוֹל וַיִּלְאוּ לִמְצֹא הַפָּתַח" (Bereishit 19:11).
One of the means at Rabbi Yeshayaleh's disposal was the writing of amulets and giving them so that salvation and would be enacted in a supernatural fashion, and to protect those who merited such along with them as well as their progeny, from all straits and distress. The amulet effected miracles especially in the realm of livelihood, stunning open miracles which were related by word of mouth with awestruck reverence. The book Mofet HaDor tells of an event that occurred to a laundromat owner with a non-Jewish competitor who harassed him. Rabbi Yeshayaleh gave him an amulet like the one before us. The owners of the competing laundromat sent a youth to set fire to his laundromat, and the youth was "struck with blindness" and couldn't find the Jewish laundromat. He mistakenly set the non-Jewish competitor's laundromat on fire. There is evidence published that whoever held this amulet during the Holocaust miraculously survived. Rabbi Aharon Friedman ztz"l of Bnei Brak had an amulet like this one, which he received from the hands of Rabbi Yeshayaleh to receive an exemption from military service, (the exemption was given in a wondrous way, when a high-ranking officer arrived and sent him home without examination or investigation). Rabbi Aharon Friedman went through all of the events of he Holocaust with the amulet and was miraculously saved more than once. The amulet continued protecting his descendants in Israel as is already publicly known, at customs crossings and the like. The chain of wonders and salvations which were standard at Rabbi Yeshayaleh's has not stopped in our days, and those few who possess amulets today attest that they have been openly privileged to much abundance and Supreme protection.
Signed confirmation from the family regarding the originality of the amulet included.
60x25 mm. Ink on parchment. Placed in an antique frame with a glass window, with a hook for hanging over the door of the home. Fine condition.
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