Tractate Rosh Hashanah of the Babylonian Talmud, with commentaries. Pietrykaŭ, 1925.
Gemara of R. Meir Shapira of Lublin. On the inner side of the front cover is his signature: "Belongs to Meir Shapira Av Beit Din of Pietrykaŭ" and his stamp: "Meir Shapira Av Beit Din and rabbi of Pietrykaŭ". Stamps of Beit Eked Sefarim" of the Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva. On Page 41 is a handwritten correction [apparently, the handwriting of R. Meir Shapira].
This Gemara is from a special edition which was printed for the first cycle of the Daf Yomi study. It was printed in a small format to ease carrying while traveling and each Talmud Daf (leaf) is printed on four pages. The Maharsha commentary is also printed on the Daf (in the margins). The Gemara was not printed as a full set (additional tractates were not printed) and to the best of our knowledge it is the first Gemara printed for those who study the Daf HaYomi.
Printed on the verso of the title page is a table - "Chart for the schedule for study of the worldwide Daf Yomi", with an introduction - "Important Notice" - which details the benefits of the table: "As set in the assembly of most of the Rebbes and Rabbis who participated in the Great Assembly in Vienna on Wednesday, the 10th of Elul 1923, initiated by the famous Torah scholar R. Meir Shapira Rabbi of Pietrykaŭ and its region (Polish Siem delegate), that each man should participate in the study of the worldwide Daf Yomi, and thank G-d almost all of our Jewish brethren have accepted this regular study session…".
Further, the publisher explains the benefit of the table: "The shopkeeper who deals in trade and is burdened earning his livelihood and with other cares is liable to forget to study the Daf Yomi and later when he does find the time to make up the obligation he missed, he may forget which Daf belongs to that day… Later, when he owes several pages, he will entirely despair of paying his debt…". Afterward, he explains the benefit of the format: "For the benefit of traders who cannot find the time to study one complete Daf in one sitting… but want to divide the Daf into portions throughout the day, we have printed each Daf in four small pages… For the benefit of travelers… we have printed a small volume which is easy to take along… and for the benefit of the students who go to school or to yeshiva and carry their books in their bags…".
R. Meir Shapira (1887-1934), Rabbi of Pietrykaŭ and Lublin, head of the Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva, introduced the idea of Daf Yomi, and was one of the founders of Agudat Yisrael and one of the leading rabbis of his times [see item no. 45]. He is noted for his idea of the Daf Yomi, which he introduced at the first Great Assembly of Agudat Yisrael in Vienna, in Elul 1933. The idea of Daf Yomi is to divide the study of the Babylonian Talmud into a regular schedule of one Daf each day throughout the year. In this manner, the Talmud is completed in seven years. This initiative was highly successful and tens of thousands of men began to study according to this plan. The date for beginning the program was set for Rosh Hashanah 1923. The Gerrer Rebbe who was a prominent Polish leader in those days announced on Rosh Hashanah eve that "I am going to study the Daf Yomi" and he was followed by thousands of his Chassidim. The Daf Yomi became a precious asset for young and old of all circles. Today, tens of thousands of Jews study the Daf Yomi and thousands of lectures take place each day all over the world on the Daf and various organizations have been established to spread and reinforce this study. From the time of its initiation until today, the Talmud has been completed 12 times.
[3], 61, 64-133 pages (lacking one leaf: pages 61-62). 22 cm. Fair-good condition. Dry paper. Stains, wear and tears. Restored binding, incorporating part of the original binding.