Two Letters of Appointment – Appointing Rabbi Chaim Volozhin to the Rabbinate – Volozhin, 1782, 1785

Handwritten leaf – letter of appointment, by notables of the Volozhin community appointing R. Chaim of Volozhin to a three-year tenure as Rabbi of their community from Iyar 1782 until Iyar 1785, with another letter of appointment appointing him to another three-year term, from Iyar 1785 until Iyar 1788.
On one side of the leaf is the first letter signed by dignitaries of the Volozhin community expressing their unanimous decision to appoint R. Chaim to the community rabbinate, signed by community leaders and rabbis: "Duber son of R. Yehuda Yedel", "Aryeh Leib son of R. Yitzchak", "Yonah Avraham son of R. Yehuda Yedel", "Shmuel son of R. Avraham", "Avraham son of R. Aharon", "Yehuda Leib son of R. Mordechai", "Dov Ber son of R. Yosef", "Aryeh Leib son of R. Yitzchak Isaac".
On the verso of the document is a similar text dated Monday, the 3rd of MarCheshvan 1785, extending R. Chaim's term in the rabbinate for another three years from the end of the previous term: "From the 4th of Iyar 1785 until the 4th of Iyar 1788…". Signed by community leaders and rabbis: "Avraham son of R. Aharon", "Dov Ber son of R. Yosef", "Ozer son of R. Naftali", "Yehuda Leib son of R. Mordechai", "Aryeh Leib son of R. Yitzchak Isaac", "Aharon Zelig son of R. Michael", "Shmuel son of R. Avraham".
R. Chaim of Volozhin (1749-1821), close disciple of the Vilna Gaon and founder or the Volozhin yeshiva, forerunner of Lithuanian yeshivot. Born in Volozhin to his father, R. Yitzchak, a community leader. In his youth, he was a disciple of R. Refael HaCohen of Hamburg, author of Torah Yekutiel, at the time the latter officiated as rabbi in Minsk and continued his studies at the yeshiva of the Shaagat Aryeh during the latter's second tenure in the Volozhin rabbinate.
In 1774, at about the age of 25, R. Chaim was appointed Rabbi of Volozhin and held this position until 1789. He then relocated to serve as Rabbi of Ukmergė (Vilkmergė), however due to opposition by a number of members of that community, he returned to the Volozhin after only one year, officiating as rabbi until his passing.
Following the common practice in those days, a rabbi was appointed for only three years (see the Chatam Sofer responsa, Orach Chaim, Siman 206: "The custom in most of the Diaspora is to write a rabbinic contract for a limited time, sometimes for three years and at times for five years. The reason for this is cited in Choshen Mishpat Siman 333, prohibiting a person to lease himself for more than three years, which changes his status from an employee to a slave and one is prohibited to enslave himself"). After three years, the community leaders would assemble to renew the rabbi's contract and would sign another three-year contract. These letters of appointment are for three years from 1782 to 1785 and from 1785 to 1788.
Double leaf, [2] written pages. 20.5 cm. Fair condition. Stains, dampstains. Wear and tears to margins. Folding marks.