ה' אייר & מאה שערים-אתחלתא דגאולה

 

ה' אייר & מאה שערים-אתחלתא דגאולה   Only after the arrival of the תלמידי בעל שם טוב and  תלמידי הגר"א were there Ashkenazi Yidden in Eretz Yisroel.  Until then there were only a handful Ashkenazi Yidden in E.Yisroel. The vast majority were the Sefardim.  The Sefardim felt threatened and intimidated  with the arrival of the Ashkenazi Yidden. They were upset with the Ashkenazim for not willing to follow  Minhag Eretz Yisroel and adopt the בית יוסף as the מרא דארעא ישראל (Rav of E.Yisroel)  Ashkenazim continued with the פסקים of the רמ"א and kept up with their own Minhagim. As the Ashkenazi community kept growing, so too did the animosity between the Sefardim and Ashkenazim.    Sefardim controlled the Tzedakos, Shechita,  Mikvaos, Chevra Kadisha, etc. This created major difficulties  for the Ashkenazim. They suffered tremendously  being beholden & dependent on their Sefardic brethren.    The Chasam Sofer even mentions this in the Teshuvos  how one of his Talmidim described the suffering  under the Sefardim. Harav Meir Auerbach Zt"l (1815-1878) Mechaber of the אמרי בינה the רב ראשי לאשכנזים was the one who decided to brake away from the Sefardi Kehilla. He established a separate Ashkenazi Kehilla. The first thing he managed to do was a separate Ashkenazi שחיטה. He also managed to take control of the funds from Chutz Laaretz. This boosted the income for the Ashkenazim because they sent out their own שד"ר.   (Meshulachim- (שלוחי דרבנן R Meir died at a young age of 62 years old. He didn't manage to complete the separation totally. They were still dependent on the Sefardim for the Chevra Kadisha. R Shmuel Salant Zt"l the successor of R. Meir was the one who established an Ashkenazi Chevra Kadisha. By having their own Chevra Kadisha, the total separation between the Sefardim & Ashkenazim was complete.   The Ashkenazim termed this occasion as the אתחלתא דגאולה which started by R Meir Auerbach and completed by R Shmuel Salant. This was the beginning of the redemption  of being dependent on the Sefardim. R Meir Auerbach was one of the founders of מאה שערים & The Bikur Cholim Hospital. מאה שערים was one of the first neighborhoods outside the walled city. R. Meir's Yahrzeit is today ה' אייר זי"ע Hence, the connection of מאה שערים, ה' אייר & אתחלתא דגאולה