An Important Legal Document between the Printer Rabbi Yisrael Bak and the Descendants of his Partner Rabbi Daniel ...

An Important Legal Document between the Printer Rabbi Yisrael Bak and the Descendants of his Partner Rabbi Daniel Alkalai - 1851 - Extremely Rare
(For a full description, please see Hebrew catalog)
At the beginning of 1851, Rabbi Yisrael Bak returned to Jerusalem, expecting to continue working as a printer, what he had been doing since 1841. However, the descendants of his partner, Rabbi Daniel Alkalai (who had died in 1845) objected to his return. Due to this financial dispute, the printing press stopped working for a certain period of time. This is the issue of the interesting document before us, from Tevet 1851.
Rabbi Alkalai, one of the kabbalists of Jerusalem, the nephew of Rabbi Avraham Alkalai (author of "Zachor Le'Avraham"), was a constitutive figure of Hebrew printing in Jerusalem. He was the one who initiated and encouraged the founding of the Bak printing house at the beginning of 1841.
Already at the beginning of the document, we discover a surprising fact: "the gentile Sheikh Mustafa al Bassiti had claims with the Rabbi Reb Yisrael Ashkenazi [Bak] the printer and with Reb Daniel Alkalai …" Before us is a historical discovery which is most likely unknown from any other source, that is, the involvement of a respected Arab (!) in the founding or operation of the Hebrew printing press of Jerusalem at its outset.

Indeed, the document before us is not signed and it might be a draft that was written during the court sitting or was replaced by a more updated document. However, it is still of great historical significance since legal documents regarding the history of the Hebrew printing of Jerusalem are scarce, even more so since it contains an important discovery - the involvement of an Arabic Sheikh in the operation of the printing press of Yisrael Bak.

The writer's identity
The handwriting in the document before us is very similar to the handwriting of Rabbi Ya'akov Shaul Elyashar, author of "Yissah Beracha" (added is material for identifying the handwriting). He took part in solving the financial dispute between Rabbi Yisrael Bak and the Alkalai family. Before us then is an additional discovery: documents handwritten by Rabbi Elyashar during those early years are extremely rare!
13x14.5 cm.
Condition: Fair-Good. Folding marks and slits because of them. Slight tears at the margins of the leaf. The text is almost complete.