Letter from Eliezar Phillips to Isaac Leeser;June 15, 1866

Title: Letter from Eliezar Phillips to Isaac Leeser;June 15, 1866
Author: Eliezar Phillips
Contributor: Isaac Leeser
Location(s): New York City; Philadelphia
Format: Letter. 3 page(s) on 2 sheet(s).; Letter
Type: Letter
Language(s): Hebrew
Physical Characteristics: Lined Paper; Manuscript
Is Part Of: The Dropsie College Isaac Leeser Collection at the Penn Libraries
content: N.Y. Sunday, The
2nd of Tammuz
(June) 1866.
Hebrew
Greetings, etc. to my friend, etc. Isaac son of Uri Leeser:
After my greetings of peace, I want to ask you for one favor, and I am ready to pay for your trouble, as much as you will justly impose upon me. God is my witness that it is not for my own glory but for Him and his Torah that I do this. There is a time for silence and a time for speech. We should not permit The final mish-nah of Chapter IX of the Treatise Sotah to come true, “The wisdom of the Scribes grows stale, and the righteous become despised, then truth is lacking.”
It is now three days since an old man died here and departed this life from us and all Israel. His name was Rabbi Isaac, called Isaac Ha Kohen, a righteous and pious man as you will see in the newspaper of Rev Isaac's of

last week. His son, Mr. Cohen, The Parass of Rodaphei Zedek, asked me to pronounce an appropriate eulogy for his father, since I was a frequent visitor to his house and a loyal friend. I did as he told me and de-cided to pronounce the eulogy in his home after he had been prepared for burial, because in that house he used to sit and study for many years. I uttered words that came from the heart. Everyone wept for him and every eye was moist with tears. But I shall give you only a small portion of it. I began with a quotation from the Treatise “Mored? Katan?”. (The quotation from the eulogy takes up ½ page. The point of it is that this old man was very useful to the community and was comparable to the sun at its height. Hence this death is a universal misfortune, comparable to the setting of the sun at midday). The letter then continues:

But Rev. Issacs was evidently en-vious for he did not mention my name in his newspaper. He did mention all the mourners, and who do you think was at their head? Rev. Isaacs. That is why I ask you to do me a favor and mention my name in the “Occident” and I shall compensate you whatever you say for mentioning my name in a good sense. Also send me The “Occident” and I will consider it an act of righteousness. Everyone here is angry that he neglected to mention my name. I shall be forever indebted to you and I hope to do something in return. For truth must stand forever.
I also should like to have you let me know what you did with the Sefer Torah in which the first chapter of the portion “Mi-Ketz” (Genesis, 41) is missing, and whether you corrected the Sefer Torah. Has much correcting neces-

sary as you wrote in your letter when I was in Philadelphia, and I send greetings to my friend Mrs. Papfer. Now I want to tell you my good news that my son in Stalpe in Pomerania became engaged and the wedding will be very soon with Mazel Tov.
Again I ask you not to be angry at me.
Eliezar Phillips
(Scribe in N.Y.)
If you want to honor me with a few lines my address is L. Phillips, 203 Broome St., N.Y.

MRS. SOLOMON GRAYZEL THE SHELBURNE 13TH STREET AND LINDLEY AVENUE PHILADELPHIA, PA.
Identifier: LSDCBx3FF1_35
Date: 1866-06-15

Part of Letter from Eliezar Phillips to Isaac Leeser;June 15, 1866

Eliezar Phillips, “Letter from Eliezar Phillips to Isaac Leeser;June 15, 1866”, 1866-06-15, Isaac Leeser Digital Repository, accessed September 7, 2024, https://judaicadhpenn.org/legacyprojects/s/leeser/item/65984