Rabbinical emissaries raised funds abroad for the Jewish communities of Palestine. They were most active between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. In their heyday, Istanbul was the main center from which fundraising missions were organized and overseen. Rabbinical emissaries visited Jewish communities throughout the world; the Ottoman Empire, Western Europe, and North Africa were the most frequent and important destinations.

Rabbinical emissaries collecting funds in support of the Jews in the Holy Land, known as sheluḥe de-rabbanan (acronym:  shadarim), were a com…