Auction 95 Early Printed Books, Chassidut and Kabbalah, Letters and Manuscripts, Engravings and Jewish Ceremonial Objects
Handwritten leaf, Friedburg community protocol, signed by R. Michel Oppenheim, Rabbi of the city, and community leaders. Friedberg (Germany), 1744. Yiddish.
Protocol of a discussion held between community leaders and the representatives of the city's butchers, in the presence of the Rabbi of the city, in an attempt to resolve a conflict between the community and local butchers.
R. Yechiel Michel Oppenheim, Rabbi of the city, signs first, followed by the Gabbaim and community leaders.
R. Yechiel Michel Oppenheim (d. 1750), originally served as Rabbi of Offenbach, and later chosen as Rabbi of Friedberg and the region, a position he held for over forty years until his death.
[1] double leaf (two written pages). 34 cm. Good condition. Stains. Wear. Folds.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Handwritten booklet, Mohel's records. [Halberstadt, Germany], 1767-1783.
Contains inscriptions on 24 circumcisions performed by the Mohel. The first inscription is from 12 Tamuz, 1767, and the last one is from 3 Av, 1783.
On the first page is a title: "Swift like a deer to do the will of our father in heaven…". The word Tzvi (deer) is marked, apparently alluding to the Mohel's name, which may have been Tzvi Hirsch Kohen (see below).
The identification of the Mohel's city as Halberstadt is based on the names appearing in the booklet, primarily R. Leib Eiger, who was dayan and Rabbi of Halberstadt, and is mentioned in about half of the inscriptions. In addition, the booklet mentions names of known people from Halberstadt: "R. Bendit Levi", "R. Zalman Hildesheim", and more.
Other inscriptions mention the fact of the Mohel being a Kohen, and names of his family members. In an inscription from 1777 he mentions circumcising his own son Aharon, for whom the Sandak was "R. Hirsch Keslin" (R. Tzvi Keslin donated a large sum to found a school in Halberstadt which opened in 1795, and was named for him Hazkarat Tzvi). Additional inscription on circumcising his son Eliezer Lipman in Tevet, 1779. In 1768 he mentions circumcising Lipman the son of his brother-in-law R. Feivish Katz. In 1779 he mentions Chaim Zelig the grandson of his brother-in-law R. Pinchas Segal. In 1781 he mentions Pinchas the grandson of his brother-in-law R. Pinchas.
Many of the people mentioned in this booklet are signatories of the "Ordinances for the Circumcision Feast" of the Halberstadt community, 1776, signed by leaders and respected members of the community, also including a signature by "Tzvi Hirsch Kohen". This may be the Mohel who was the author of the present booklet.
R. Yehudah Leib Eiger (d. 1808), son of R. Akiva Eiger, Rabbi of Zülz (Biała) and Pressburg (R. Akiva Eiger the first; 1718-1758), served as Rabbi of Halberstadt for forty years. Uncle of R. Akiva Eiger, Rabbi of Posen (1762-1837). Together with his brother R. Wolf, he published his father's novellae in Mishnat DeRabbi Akiva.
[5] leaves (7 written pages). 15 cm. Fair-good condition. Many dark stains. Wear and a few tears. Disconnected leaves. Missing binding.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Letter to the Alt-Ofen (Óbuda, Budapest) community administration, sent from the Ujhel (Sátoraljaújhely) community, signed by Rabbi of the city R. Yirmiyahu Löw and community leader R. Mordechai Tzvi Tauman. Ujhel, June 1853. Western Yiddish.
In the present letter, the leaders of the Ujhel community address the Alt-Ofen community, requesting they ask the authorities for permission to erect an Eruv for Shabbat in their city. Signatures of R. Yirmiyahu Löw and R. Mordechai Tzvi Tauman.
R. Yirmiyahu Löw (1811-1874), leading Hungarian Torah scholar contemporary with the Ketav Sofer. Son of R. Binyamin Wolf Löw author of Shaarei Torah. He served as rabbi of Vrbové and Ujhel (Sátoraljaújhely).
[1] leaf. 25x23 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains and folds. Tear at opening of letter. Postage stamps and remains of a wax seal.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Volume of leaves and draft letters handwritten by R. Shlomo Zalman Braun, Rabbi of Putnok – novellae and other matters. [Putnok, ca. 1850s-1860s]. Hebrew, Yiddish and some German.
Various letters and inscriptions on Torah matters, relating to the rabbinic position, communities and personal matters, including: Letter to R. Yehudah David Rottenberg, Rabbi of Sajószentpéter (author of Tehillah LeDavid), and follow-up inscriptions discussing what he had said; a lengthy Torah letter addressed to "R. Shmuel"; a sharp draft letter to a prominent rabbi (apparently this rabbi had refused to involve himself in some controversy, at which the author expresses disappointment); Yiddish letter to the Shomrei HaDat society; and other draft letters and various inscriptions.
R. Shlomo Zalman Braun, Rabbi of Putnok (1815-1872), disciple of R. Yitzchak Tzvi Margareten, Rabbi of Bükkábrány. Served as first Rabbi of the Putnok community (Gömör province, Hungary).
Some 15 items (containing about 52 written pages). Varying size, between 34.5 cm and 17 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, wear and some tears. New binding.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Lengthy draft of a letter (3 written pages) by R. Aryeh Leib Litsch-Segal Rosenbaum. [Tállya?, ca. 1901.]
Written to the Mezőkövesd community in northeast Hungary, after he was offered candidacy as rabbi of the city. The letter was written some time after the passing of his father R. Gershon, Av Beit Din of Tállya in 1901. Interestingly, R. Leib Litsch-Rosenbaum expresses interest in applying to a rabbinical position in Mezőkövesd even though he was the natural candidate to inherit his father's position in his city, Tállya (where he eventually was in fact chosen as Rabbi and served for over 33 years until 1935).
The present item is a draft letter with erasures and corrections, with his signature at the end. It may have been handwritten by his elder brother and father-in-law R. Moses Chaim Litsch Rosenbaum, Av Beit Din of Kleinwardein (both brothers had very similar handwriting, see photographs; the handwriting more closely resembles that of R. Moses Chaim).
R. Aryeh Leib HaLevi Litsch-Rosenbaum, Av Beit Din of Tállya (1884-1935), son and successor of R. Gershon Litsch-Rosenbaum, Av Beit Din of Tállya and son-in-law of his elder brother R. Moses Chaim HaLevi Litsch-Rosenbaum, Av Beit Din of Kleinwardein (Kisvárda). Disciple of the Shevet Sofer in the Pressburg yeshiva and of R. Moshe Tzvi Fuchs, Av Beit Din of Grosswardein (Oradea).
His brother and father-in-law, R. Moses (Moshe) Chaim HaLevi Litsch-Rosenbaum (1864-1942), author of Lechem Rav, prominent Hungarian rabbi. Served as Rabbi of Shamloi (Șimleu Silvaniei) and Kleinwardein (Kisvárda).
[2] leaves (3 written pages). 27 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Wear and tears to margins of leaves.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Sent to [the young] R. Yekutiel Yehudah Greenwald during his involvement in the controversy over the forged Talmud Yerushalmi, regarding his correspondence with R. Meir Dan Plotzky. In the letter he relates that R. Plotzky mentioned to him that R. Greenwald had disparaged him, and he asks R. Greenwald his reasons for doing so and subsequently retracting.
R. Yosef Leib (Yehudah) Sofer, Rabbi of Paks (1861-1918), author of Yalkut Sofer, student of the Pressburg yeshiva under the Shevet Sofer, and of the Bonyhád yeshiva under R. Zekel Pollack and his son R. Moshe Pollack.
The recipient of the letter, R. Yekutiel Yehudah Greenwald (1889-1951), studied under R. Shmuel Rosenberg in Unsdorf (Huncovce) and in the Khust yeshiva of Rebbe Moshe Grünwald, the Arugat HaBosem. He published dozens of books and articles on halachah and history of Hungarian Jewry. He immigrated to the United States in 1924 and served as Rabbi in Brooklyn and Columbus.
In an article he published in 1951, he recounts his involvement in the controversy over the forged Talmud Yerushalmi on Kodashim, admitting his childish insolence in his correspondence with R. Meir Dan Plotzky, until R. Yosef Leib Sofer, Rabbi of Paks, reprimanded him for it (see enclosed material).
Postcard. 14 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, including dampstains. Postmarks.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Letter on postcard handwritten and signed by R. Eliezer Deutsch, Av Beit Din of Bonyhád. Bonyhád, Erev Shavuot [1913].
Sent to R. Binyamin Ullman, son of R. Shlomo Zalman Ullman, Av Beit Din of Makó, author of Yeriot Shlomo. In the letter, he thanks R. Binyamin for sending him his father's book Yeriot Shlomo and blesses him for the coming festival of Shavuot to receive the Torah with much joy.
Postcard. 14x9 cm. Good condition. Stains and inscriptions. Postmarks from Bonyhád dated June 1913.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Letter from R. Shaul Brach of Nitra to a Jew of Thessaloniki, regarding distributing his book in Thessaloniki. Magendorf (Veľký Meder), 1897.
R. Shaul wrote and signed the present letter in square script for the ease of the reader, who as a resident of Thessaloniki was unfamiliar with Ashkenazic script. Among other things, R. Shaul details the list of rabbis and people of Thessaloniki to whom he sent his book, and wonders why he is not receiving compensation for it. On the side of his letter is a letter draft (unsigned), in Oriental script, written by the recipient in response to this letter, ending with the place and date (for another letter of R. Shaul Brach from the same year and on the same subject, see: Kedem Catalog 27, November 2012, lot 441).
Rabbi Shaul Brach (1865-1940) was a disciple of the Chatam Sofer and a leading rabbi in his times. He was appointed Rabbi of Magendorf (Veľký Meder) in 1892, and served as Rabbi of Carei between 1910-1923, until his appointment as Rabbi of Košice. Throughout his years in the rabbinate he headed a large yeshiva, and his disciples included many Hungarian rabbis.
[1] double leaf. 23 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Tears, slightly affecting text at beginning of letter. Folds.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Letter on postcard, handwritten and signed by R. Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, from his tenure as Rabbi of Khust (about two years before he began his tenure as chief rabbi of the Edah HaCharedit in Jerusalem). Khust, Adar 1931.
Sent to his friend and disciple R. Naftali Krauss [of Prešov], whose son was a student of R. Yosef Tzvi's yeshiva (and apparently received an exemption from army duty). He guides his disciple to accept the yoke of heaven, and thanks him for sending wheat and wine for the upcoming holiday of Pesach, and he blesses him with children, life, sustenance and bountiful blessing, signing his name. In the margins of the letter, he adds a greeting for his children.
R. Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky (1867-1948), prominent Hungarian Torah scholar. He served as rabbi of Galanta and Khust, where he also headed one of the largest and most prestigious yeshivot in Hungary. In 1933, he immigrated to Eretz Israel to succeed R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld as chief rabbi of the Edah HaCharedit in Jerusalem, and where he reestablished his yeshiva and delivered regular lectures. He had fatherly love for his thousands of disciples, as is also discernible in the present letter.
Official postcard of R. Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky. 14 cm. Good condition. Stains. Some wear.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Handwritten leaf, certificate of ordination as rabbi, signed by R. Akiva Sofer, Rabbi of Pressburg, and the dayan R. Leib Rubenstein. Pressburg, [Kislev 1920].
The ordination was apparently written by the dayan R. Leib Rubenstein, who signed the present document, to which R. Akiva Sofer appended his signature.
On the reverse side of the leaf is an additional ordination handwritten and signed by R. Yeshayah Kalisch, a dayan of Pressburg, son-in-law of R. Leib Friedman, head of the Pressburg Beit Din. Pressburg, [Tevet] 1920.
The ordination was granted to the student of the Pressburg yeshiva, R. Menachem Donat, son of R. Shmuel Donat of Pressburg
R. Akiva Sofer (1878-1960), author of Daat Sofer, son of the Shevet Sofer and grandson of the Ketav Sofer. Served as Rabbi and yeshiva dean of Pressburg for 33 years. In 1939, he moved to Lugano, Switzerland, and from there immigrated to Jerusalem, where he reestablished his yeshiva and community.
The dayan, R. Yehudah Leib Rubenstein (ca. 1857-1923), disciple of the Shevet Sofer and Maharam Schick, served as dayan and yeshiva lecturer in Pressburg.
The dayan R. Yeshayah Kalisch (1883-1944; perished in the Holocaust), disciple of the Shevet Sofer, R. Yeshayah Ehrenfeld Rabbi of Šurany, the Minchat Elazar Rabbi of Munkacs, and R. Yitzchak Shmelkes Rabbi of Lviv. Dayan in Pressburg and head lecturer in the Pressburg yeshiva.
The recipient of the certificate of ordination, R. Menachem Donat (1888-1977), born in Pressburg to his father R. Shmuel Donat (1861-1931, rabbi and orator in the Ahavat Torah society in Pressburg), studied in the Pressburg yeshiva and Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin. Served as Rabbi and dayan in various cities in Germany. Immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1939, settling in Jerusalem.
[1] double leaf (2 written pages). 21 cm. Good-fair condition. Folds. Tears to folds, reinforced with tape.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Collection of 41 postcards sent to R. Dr. Chaim Brody, Rabbi of Prague – with 54 signatures of rabbis who joined the Heter Meah Rabbanim – rabbis and Beit Dins from various countries across Europe. Nisan-Elul 1922.
Reply cards in lithographic print, assenting to permit Shmuel Tzvi son of David to remarry. On the outer side of the postcard is printed the name and address of the recipient, R. Chaim Brody.
The signatories on the postcards include R. Isser Zalman Meltzer and his court, Slutsk; R. Shlomo Grünfeld and his court, Munkacs; the Beit Din of London, with six signatories, including R. Joseph Hertz, R. Moshe Avigdor Chaikin, R. Shmuel Yitzchak Hillman, and more; R. Yosef Tzvi Carlebach, Hamburg; R. Aharon Neuwirth, Halberstadt; R. Pinchas Wolf and his court, Cologne; R. Meir Hildesheimer, Berlin; R. Yosef Wohlgemuth, Berlin; R. Yaakov Posen, Frankfurt; R. Binyamin May, Frankfurt; R. Yissachar Behr, Prenzlau; R. Yisrael Broda, Michalovce; R. Avraham Aryeh Kurzweil of Pressburg, Brtnice (Moravia); R. Zalman Jacobowitz, Lackenbach; R. Yosef Rosenfeld, Chernivtsi; R. Aryeh Leibish Lichtig, Hamburg; R. Yitzchak Rosel, Tilsit (Sovetsk); and more.
The Heter Meah Rabbanim (permission of a hundred rabbis) was granted in cases when it was necessary to permit a man to marry a second wife, when his first wife becomes incapacitated or runs off, under certain halachic conditions. One of the conditions is that the permitting rabbis be of different countries.
R. Chaim Brody, chief rabbi of Prague, corresponded with rabbis from all over the world, and for this reason addressed dozens of rabbis from different countries with a detailed responsum to explain the Heter, enclosing a reply card to endorse it.
The recipient of the present postcards, R. Dr. Chaim (Heinrich) Brody (1868-1942), chief rabbi of Prague. Born in Ungvár, where he was taught by his father R. Shlomo Zalman Broda, and his grandfather R. Shlomo Ganzfried, both dayanim in the city. He studied in the Pressburg yeshiva, and later in R. Hildesheimer's Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin. Served as Rabbi of Náchod, later succeeding his father-in-law R. Nathan Ehrenfeld as Chief Rabbi of Prague. He specialized in the study of manuscripts from the Rishonim, and was known as one of the most prominent researchers of Spanish Jewry's medieval poetry. He immigrated to Jerusalem in 1934, where he directed Salman Schocken's Institute for the Research of Hebrew Poetry.
41 postcards. 14x9 cm. Varying condition. Some contain postage stamps and postmarks. Some postcards contain open tears (due to removal of postage stamps), affecting text.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Assorted collection of over 40 letters of rabbis from various countries: Germany, Hungary, Poland, Galicia, United States and elsewhere. [Ca. 1861-1961].
• Letter of R. Mendel Koretz, dayan in Liptovský Mikuláš. Liptovský Mikuláš, Iyar 1861.
• Letter of R. Moshe HaLevi Silberman (son of R. Naftali Hertzka of Ratzfert). Ratzfert, Tishrei 1910.
• Letter of R. Shlomo Tzvi HaKohen Strasser, Rabbi of the Orthodox community in Debrecen. Debrecen, 1925.
• Letter of R. Aharon Ausch, Rabbi of Lupeni [son-in-law of the Tal Chaim of Liska]. Grosswardein (Oradea), [after the Holocaust, ca. 1946-1947].
• Lengthy letter of R. Yoel Wolf Glattstein, Rabbi of Helmec (Kráľovský Chlmec). Helmec, 1939.
• Letter of R. Moshe Spitzer, dayan in Munkacs (served on the Beit Din of the Darchei Teshuvah). Munkacs, 1910.
• Letter of R. Tzvi Hirsch Perls, Rabbi of Kittsee. Kittsee, [ca. 1920s].
• Letter of R. Fishel Sofer-Süssman, dayan in Budapest, 1935.
• Letter of R. Yehudah Leib Tsirelson, Rabbi of Chișinău – on a copy of a letter by R. Chaim Ozer of Vilna. Chișinău, 1938.
• Letter of R. Chaim Mordechai Roller, Rabbi of Neamț. Neamț, 1930.
• Letter of R. Moshe Tuviah Tal, Rabbi of the Hague. The Hague (Holland), Elul 1898.
• Letter of R. Yitzchak Shmuel, head of the Oslo Beit Din. Oslo, 1933.
• Letter of R. Dov Ber Zeitlin. Paris, 1891.
• Letter of R. Yair Peterseil, Rabbi of the Polish community in Berlin. Jerusalem, 1938.
• Letter of R. David Katz Neuwirth, dayan in Eperjes (Prešov). Prešov, 1927.
• Letter of R. David Feldman, Rabbi of the Orthodox community in Leipzig. Leipzig, 1921.
• Letter of R. Yosef Gelernter, Rabbi of Brussels. Brussels, 1936.
• Letter of R. Chaim Yaakov Widerwitz of Moscow, head of the Kollel in New York. New York, 1909.
• Letter of R. Shalom Israelson, a rabbi in Chicago. Cleveland, Ohio, 1911.
• Letter of R. Yehudah Leib Levin. Detroit (United States), Cheshvan 1913.
• Letter of R. Shlomo Yitzchak Levin. Indianapolis, Indiana (United States). Elul, 1920.
• Letter of R. Alter Shaul Pfeffer, Rabbi of the Beit Midrash HaGadol. New York, 1924.
• Letter of R. Moshe Shimon Sivitz. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (United States), 1928.
• Letter of R. Shmuel HaLevi Levin. Hamilton (Canada), Cheshvan 1935.
• Letter of R. Yosef Feimer (the second) of Slutsk. Boro Park, Brooklyn, Elul 1932.
• Letter of R. Shlomo Yehudah Leib HaLevi Levitan. Rock Island, Illinois. United States, 1936.
• Letter of R. Shaul Leib Morgenstern. Liberty, New York, 1938.
• Letter of R. Yekutiel Yehudah Greenwald. Columbus, Ohio, [ca. 1940s].
• And more.
42 letters. Most on official stationery. Size and Condition varies.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.