Bidspirit auction | DE SOLA POOL, DAVID.  Autograph

DE SOLA POOL, DAVID.  Autograph Manuscript Notes concerning death. Written in Hebrew and English.          A group of ten handwritten notes utilized for one of the grim duties of a rabbi, that of the eulogy, in which entire lives must be summarized and solace provided to the bereaved. Includes: * An excerpt from Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer in the fine Sephardic hand of Rabbi de Sola Pool. * Four excerpts from rabbinic passages which Rabbi de Sola Pool used in his eulogy for Muriel Fondiller in 1962. * A handwritten poem “Towards Fields of Light” by Edward Hatch . * A handwritten poem “Departed Comrade” by Lucretius (translated by W. H. Maddock). * An excerpt from ”The Worth of Suffering” taken from Hymns and Anthems Adapted for Jewish Worship by Dr. Gustav Gottheil (New York, 1887). * A handwritten quotation by Spinoza, suitable for reflection upon death. * A typed poem entitled “Old Age” by Corinne Johnson. * A poem entitled “For All Who Mourn” by Arthur Guiterman, clipped from a newspaper and mounted on paper. * A page with 20 Biblical citations. * An original free verse poem consisting of one word per stanza, which concludes with “Nechamah / Frailty / Peaceful end.” (New York), c. 1940’s-60’s.      ACCOMPANIED BY: A Phonograph record: An Address to the Spanish Portuguese Congregation on [Rabbi David de Sola Pool’s] Eightieth Birthday. 1967.      AND: Two of the Rabbi de Sola Pool’s calling cards.     Rabbi David de Sola Pool (1885-1970) was a Sephardic rabbi par excellence, descended from a storied and prominent rabbinic family, who counted among them leaders of the Sephardic Diaspora in Western Europe and North America. London-born, he became the assistant rabbi at Shearith Israel in New York in 1907, succeeding its rabbi, H. Pereira Mendes, in 1921. Rabbi de Sola Pool led the congregation until retirement in 1955, and was rabbi emeritus until his death. He translated the Hagadah, Sephardic Siddur, and later Ashkenazic one, and both were staples in modern Orthodox synagogues for decades. Also a historian, he wrote many books about Jewish life in Colonial America, as well as a definitive account of the history of Shearith Israel, with his wife Tamar (daughter of Rabbi Chaim Hirschenson, 1857-1935), and with whom he co-wrote several other books of inspiring and scholarly Jewish content.