Letter by Chacham Yitzchak (Isaac) Carregal, First Known American Rabbi. Venice, Circa 1758.
Handwritten, signed letter by Harav Isaac Carregal, Rabbinical emissary of the sages of Hebron, describing places visited in Italy and his travels.
Chacham Yitzchak (Isaac) Carregal (1729-1777) was one of the leading sages of Hebron, appointed by the community to serve as an itinerant rabbi and preach among Jewish communities in the Diaspora. In the course of his journeys, he reached remote towns and villages, voyaging as far as Khuzestan in the east, and India and the New World colonies in the west.
In 1772, Rabbi Yitzchak Carregal landed on the shores of America, where he visited Philadelphia, New York and Newport, Rhode Island, which was the center of New England in those times.
The arrival of an honored sage from the Holy Land stirred great excitement among the Jewish settlers of New England, and he was received and hosted with all pomp and circumstance by the wealthy Sephardic Jewish community.
Throughout his long stay in Newport, Rabbi Yitzchak served as the spiritual bastion of the Jewish community. His genius impressed even the Christian leadership, which elevated the stature and prestige of the local Jews among their American neighbors.
On the Festival of Shavuos, 1772, he delivered a stirring oration in the Central Synagogue of Newport on the subject of the fundamentals of Jewish faith and destiny of Jews among the nations. His speech made a deep impact on the local Jews and was published in Rhode Island, 1773, in its English translation.
In 1773, Rabbi Yitzchak emigrated to Surinam in South America, and in 1774, was appointed rabbi of the Nidchei Yisrael community on the island of Barbados, where he eventually passed away.
Venice, circa 1758. Double page measuring 17×24 cm. Small hole on page.
The letter was sent to Rabbi Shmuel Shmaya Papo of Ancona, grandson of the famed kabbalist the Ramaz. The other side features a draft of Rabbi Shmuel Shmaya’s written response to Rabbi Yitzchak Carregal.
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