6 Tammuz · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Yaakov Sapir
Rabbi Yaakov Sapir (1822–1886) - renowned meshulach and traveler
Yahrzeit - 6 Tammuz
Resting place - Jerusalem
Rabbi Yaakov Sapir was born in Oshmyany, in the Vilna region.
As a boy, he traveled to Ottoman Palestine with his parents, who settled in Tzfat, and after their deaths in 1836 he moved to Jerusalem.
In 1848, the city's Jewish community entrusted him with a journey through the southern countries to collect charity for the poor of Jerusalem. In 1854, he undertook a second trip to raise funds for the construction of the Hurva Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter, which in 1859 took him to Yemen, British India, Egypt, and Australia.
The result of this journey was his most important ethnographic work, "Even Sapir", a travel diary in which he recounted the history and gave a vivid description of the condition of the Jews in the aforementioned countries. Sapir also published "Iggeret Teiman" (Vilna, 1868, deliberately named after the Rambam's letter), a work about the appearance in Yemen of the false messiah Yehuda ben Shalom, which greatly contributed to ending the false messiah's career. Sapir died in Jerusalem in 1886.
Sapir was the first Jewish researcher to recognize the significance of the Cairo Genizah, and also the first to publicize the existence of the Midrash HaGadol, which was later studied by Solomon Schechter.
Sapir also conducted extensive research and wrote articles about Israeli and Greek etrogim. He dedicated a collection of poems to Sir Moses Montefiore and his wife.
May the merit of the Tzadik protect Am Yisrael!
(https://dailyzohar.com/tzadikim/1145-Jacob-Saphir)