Auction 95 Early Printed Books, Chassidut and Kabbalah, Letters and Manuscripts, Engravings and Jewish Ceremonial Objects
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Vayikra, Part III of the Five Books of the Torah, with Haftarot, Rashi, Baal HaTurim and Siftei Chachamim, and with the commentaries of the Chida – Nachal Kedumim on the Torah and Nachal Sorek on the Haftarot. Safed: Yisrael Bak, [1833].
Some of the words on the title page are printed in red ink.
This is the second or third book printed by R. Yisrael Bak in Safed. The other parts of the Chumash from this press are unknown, and it appears that only the Book of Vayikra was printed. Bak printed another edition in tandem without the commentaries of the Chida.
Signature on title page: "Ezra Dweck HaKohen" [the Dweck family was an illustrious family of kohanim in Syria which produced leading Torah scholars, rabbis and poskim].
137 leaves. 20 cm. Fair condition. Stains, including dampstains and traces of former dampness (with light mold stains). Worming, affecting text, partially repaired with paper filling. Open tears, affecting text, including marginal open tears to the title page, and a large open tear to the final leaf (with loss to about half the leaf), repaired with paper filling. Some leaves supplied from another copy. On the title page is an ink drawing around the title and location of printing. New binding.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Kenesiyah LeShem Shamayim, against witchcraft and demon worship, by R. Menashe Matlub Sithon, Rabbi of Syria and head of the Safed Beit Din. Jerusalem: Eliyahu and Moshe Sason, 1874. Only edition.
Copy of the author's son R. Chaim Sithon, Rabbi of Safed – at the top of the title page is his handwritten ownership inscription.
The author, R. Menashe Matlub Sithon (d. 1876), Rabbi of Syria, immigrated to Safed and served as the head of its Beit Din in his later years. His son R. Chaim Sithon was born in Safed and later served as Rabbi of the Sephardic community in the city.
Kenesiyah LeShem Shamayim was composed to oppose magical practices that had spread among Jewish women in Jerusalem, Aleppo and elsewhere, particularly "indulco", a ceremony of "sweetening" held for the demons, for cures, birth and various troubles.
[2], 93 leaves. 19 cm. Good-fair condition. Minor stains and wear. Worming. Original binding, worn and damaged.
Shoshana Halevy, no. 210.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Printed booklet, Kol MeHeichal, polemic against the people of the New Yishuv who opposed the Halukka system of charity distribution in Eretz Israel. [Jerusalem: Yoel Moshe Salomon, 1885.] Printed without title page.
The booklet contains the printed signatures of about eighty leaders of the Ashkenazi Perushim and Chassidic communities.
The author of the booklet is apparently the famous traveler R. Yaakov Sapir. The author describes the economic contributions of the Old Yishuv in contrast to the passivity of the new settlers, and goes on to describe the strain on the Halukka donations in Jerusalem as a result of refugees from the pogroms in Russia and Romania in 1881.
This booklet raised much interest in its time, and was the Old Yishuv's official response to the polemic against the Halukka institutions.
8 pages. 20-21 cm. Fair condition. Many stains. Much wear and tears, mainly to last two leaves. Some handwritten corrections. Detached leaves, without binding.
Shoshana Halevy, no. 529 (who calls this "an especially rare booklet").
Recorded in the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book project based on a photocopy.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Collection of books from early Jerusalem presses, 1863-1903.
12 books. Varying size and condition. New bindings. The books were not thoroughly examined, and are being sold as is.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Handwritten letter with a request to support the settlement of the Vilna Gaon's disciples in Safed and Jerusalem. Signed by R. Yisrael of Shklow and other leaders of the community of the Vilna Gaon's disciples. Jerusalem and Safed, Kislev 1830.
An appeal letter given to the emissary R. Tzvi Hirsh son of R. Yehudah, with a blank space for the emissary to fill in the name of the donor.
Signed by R. Chaim Kohen (previously Rabbi in Pinsk, served as rabbi in Safed until his passing in 1831); R. Yisrael of Shklow (disciple of the Vilna Gaon); R. Natan Nata son of R. Mendel (a leader of the first group of disciples of the Vilna Gaon who immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1809; d. 1846); R. Natan Nata son of R. Saadia (attendant of the Vilna Gaon; d. 1849); R. Aryeh Leib son of R. Yosef Leon (a leader of the Ashkenazi Yishuv in Safed); R. Aryeh son of R. Yerachmiel Markus of Keidan (1800-1877; trustee of Kollel Perushim in Jerusalem and founder of the Hurva synagogue); R. Shlomo Zalman son of R. Ze'ev Wolf HaKohen (emissary for Eretz Israel; d. 1847 in Calcutta).
[1] leaf. 24.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minute tears and worming to margins, not affecting text.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Letter of leave from the Beit El Kabbalist yeshiva in Jerusalem, written for the emissary R. Yosef Bechor Benveniste, to summarize his mission in India, signed by the kabbalist rabbis of the yeshiva – R. Yosef Vital, R. Nissim Eini and R. Sason son of R. Moshe [Preciado] author of Shemen Sason, with the stamps of the yeshiva. Jerusalem, 1888.
The letter documents the income and expenses of the emissary from his departure until his return. The yeshiva rabbis confirm that he paid the entire sum after deducting expenses.
R. Yosef Bechor son of R. Rachamim Shneur Benveniste (ca. 1840-1916), born in Jerusalem, travelled as emissary of Jerusalem and Hebron. Starting in 1910, he served as head of the Sephardic Beit Din in Jerusalem.
R. Yosef Vital (d. 1889), a rabbi of the Beit El Kabbalist yeshiva, was one of the editors of the writings of the Arizal with the glosses of the Rashash, printed in Jerusalem.
R. Nissim Eini (d. 1900), a leading Iraqi Torah scholar and kabbalist. He was a close disciple of R. Abdallah Somech. He immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1856 and settled in Jerusalem, coming to be one of the famous rabbis of the Beit El Kabbalist yeshiva.
R. Sasson Preciado son of Moshe (1821-1903), author of Shemen Sason, was born in Bosnia and moved to Eretz Israel together with his elder brother R. Efraim. He was among the leading rabbis of the Beit El Kabbalist yeshiva, and was later active in leading the yeshiva for many years. He journeyed several times to Babylonian cities on behalf of the yeshiva. He was also in contact with great Chassidic leaders, and the Shinova Rebbe visited R. Sasson in his home on a visit to Jerusalem.
[1] double leaf. 13 cm. Good condition. Folds. Minute tears.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Letter from "the general committee of the Ashkenazi kollels in the Holy Land", signed by five committee directors, with several lines of blessings at the end, signed by R. Shmuel Salant, with his signature and stamp. Jerusalem, Adar I, 1894.
Addressed to R. Meir Morris, a collector and agent for Eretz Israel in Chicago, United States, with a request to transfer the funds raised to emissary R. Avraham Katznelson. Signed by: R. Shmuel Muni Silberman, R. Ziskind Shachor, R. Elimelech Perlman, R. Shimon Elazar Kahana, and the committee scribe R. Yosef Rivlin. With large stamp of the committee (with an illustration of the Western Wall and the site of the Temple).
R. Shmuel Salant (1816-1909), studied in Salant along with his friend R. Yisrael Salanter (the founder of the Musar movement). As early as the age of 14, his opinion was relied on by leading rabbis in halachic ruling. He immigrated to Israel in 1841 to serve as posek and Rabbi of the Jerusalem community of the Vilna Gaon's students, and he served as Rabbi of Jerusalem for about 70 years, established educational and charitable institutions in the city, and founded a Beit Din.
R. Elimelech Perlman, an important leader of the Chassidic community and institutions in Jerusalem.
R. Yosef (Yoshe) Rivlin (1836-1896), a builder of the new city of Jerusalem, a founder of Nachalat Shivah and many neighborhoods in Jerusalem; was also a leader of the "Knesset Yisrael General Committee", the union of kollels of Ashkenazi Jews in Jerusalem and other holy cities in Eretz Israel.
[1] leaf. Official stationery. 22 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, wear and folds. Tears to folds and margins (repaired with tape on verso).
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Huge collection of over 200 letters from rabbis, tzedakah collectors and philanthropists from all over the world: United States, Europe, South Africa and various countries. [Ca. 1890s-1900s.]
The letters were sent to R. Shmuel Salant, Rabbi of Jerusalem. Some are also addressed to the other rabbis who assisted him in administering the city's tzedakah funds: R. Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim (the Aderet); R. Yitzchak Blazer, the Rabbi of St. Petersburg; R. Chaim Berlin, the Rabbi of Moscow; and additional rabbis and Tzedakah collectors from the Vaad HaKlali and additional institutions in the city.
R. Shmuel Salant (1816-1909), immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1841 to serve as posek and rabbi of the Perushim community of disciples of the Vilna Gaon in Jerusalem. In his capacity as rabbi of Jerusalem, a position he held for close to seventy years, he founded the educational and charitable institutions in the city, established the Beit Din and strengthened the Ashkenazi community. He was renowned for his brilliance and practical approach to halachic ruling and in running communal matters in Jerusalem and worldwide.
Over 200 letters. Varying size and condition.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Letter to the United States philanthropist R. Dov Manischewitz and his wife Nesha, regarding building a house generously dedicated by his wife to the Benot Yerushalayim society, signed by Jerusalem Torah scholars.
Signatures of: R. "Yitzchak Blazer" – with his stamp; R. Zalman HaKohen Rivlin; R. Gedaliah Nachman Broder; R. Asher Ze'ev Yelinsky; R. Yehudah Leib son of R. Reuven [Menuchin]; R. Meir Adler [son-in-law of Rebbe Elazar Mendel Biderman of Lelov]; R. Moshe Ze'ev Zilberman; R. Elimelech Perlman [an important activist and leader of the Chassidic community of Jerusalem]; R. Dov Ber Abramowitz; R. Menachem Mendel Rabin [a head of the Chassidic settlement in Jerusalem]; and R. Yitzchak Eliezer Charlap.
R. Yitzchak Blazer – known as R. Itzele Peterburger (1837-1907), prominent disciple of R. Yisrael Salanter, and disseminator of the Musar movement in the Lithuanian yeshivot. Leading Torah scholar of his times. At the instruction of R. Salanter he began to serve as Rabbi of St. Petersburg in 1862; in 1878 he resigned and moved to Kovno, and headed the Kovno Kollel starting in 1880, a position he also resigned to deliver Musar sermons in the Knesset Yisrael yeshiva in Slabodka. In 1904 he immigrated to Eretz Israel, where he directed the Vilna Kollel in Jerusalem and headed the Vaad HaKlali of charitable institutions in Jerusalem.
[1] leaf, official stationery. 29 cm. Good condition. Stains and wear, tears and folds. Verso repaired with paper.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Manuscript, guestbook of the Torat Eretz Yisrael General Torah School and Yeshiva in Safed – the yeshiva of R. Yaakov David Wilovsky (Ridvaz) of Slutsk, with tens of letters and copies of letters from supporters and donors of the yeshiva from all over the world. Safed, ca. 1907-1914.
Title page in calligraphy, partially gilded letters, with gilt decorations. The notebook contains a leaf of ordinances (printed), lists of donors (their address and yahrzeits), letters of rabbis and copies of letters of rabbis, entries signed by various supporters and guests who came to Safed (many in Iyar, when many guests come from all over the world to visit gravesites of Tzaddikim in the Galilee and R. Shimon ben Yochai's gravesite on Lag BaOmer).
The notebook contains letters of recommendation and entries with original signatures, including: Signature of Rebbe Moshe David Teitelbaum [Rabbi of Târgu Lăpuș; grandson of the Yitav Lev]; signature of Rebbe Yisrael Hager of Radovitz; signature of R. Meir Adler of Jerusalem [son-in-law of the Rebbe of Lelov]; signature of R. Eliyahu Chamoi, head of the Syrian Beit Din; signature and stamp of R. Nisim Danon, Rabbi of Beirut; letter (on a separate leaf) signed and stamped by R. Chaim Nachum, Hakham Bashi in Constantinople; entries signed by supporters from Metula; signature of R. Moshe Auerbach [founder of Netzach Yisrael school in Petah Tikva]; signature of guest R. Yaakov Leib Kuntzler; entries signed by R. Ze'ev Blumberg of Odessa and R. Meir shochet of Odessa; signature of R. Avraham son of Yechiel Kisselson, shochet of Hoboken, New Jersey; signatures of the guests R. Shlomo Melamed, R. Bechor Yitzchak Katan and R. Moshe Albaali; letter of Dr. Shimon Moyal; letter of R. Yehudah Leib HaKohen Fishman, director of Mizrachi in Israel; letter of Nachum Sokolov; and many more signed entries.
The notebook also includes copies of letters of rabbis, including from R. Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk; R. Yehoshua Heshel Babad of Ternopil; R. Meshulam Roth; R. Yitzchak Wiedenfeld Rabbi of Hrymailiv; R, Gershon Hager Rabbi of Tauste; R. Asher Zelig Rabbi of Ozerna; R. Yitzchak Moskowitz and R. Chanoch Henich of Sassov; R. David Kleinhandler Rabbi of Zborov; R. Binyamin Aryeh HaKohen Weiss, Rabbi of Chernivtsi; Rebbe Aharon Menachem Mendel Eichenstein of Alesk; and more.
The notebook also contains copies of letters of attendants on behalf of leading Galician rebbes, including letters from attendants and family members of the rebbes of Sadigura, Chortkov, Husiatyn, Kopitchnitz, Czernowitz, Boyan, Vizhnitz, and more.
[45] written pages along with tens of blank leaves. 23.5 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains, including dampstains. Wear and tears. Original leather binding, worn, loose and disconnected, missing spine.
Provenance: Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, EI.011.021.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Manuscript, ledger of Tiberias Torah institutions – General Torah School and Orphanage, and the Or HaChaim yeshiva. Tiberias, [1914].
Elaborate ledger, in gilded and colored calligraphy, prepared for an emissary (Shadar). At the beginning is a decorated title page. The ledger contains a detailed account of the institutions' details and statutes, the Torah school, orphanage and yeshiva, expenses, rights of donors, and more. After that appears a lengthy letter (in Hebrew) to philanthropists, from the directors of the Torah school and yeshiva, with stamps of the institutions and signatures of three rabbis: R. Raphael Vivas, R. Moshe Avraham Chamoi and R. Yosef Yaloz. An additional letter in Ladino, with signatures and stamps of the same three directors. From leaf [14] onwards are tables for lists of donors (the list is blank, as well as the rest of the leaves).
Original leather binding with tooled inscription.
[12, 14-18] written leaves and many blank leaves. 26.5 cm. Good condition. Stains and wear. Original leather binding, with light damage.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Ledger of an emissary for the Torat Kohanim general yeshiva for study of Temple laws in Jerusalem. Lithographic print. [Jerusalem, after 1921.]
The entire ledger is in lithographic print. The title page is printed as a color lithograph (colored purple and gold). The ledger includes letters of the yeshiva administration in Hebrew and Yiddish on study of the laws of Korbanot and the Temple in Jerusalem, by Torah scholars; a lithograph of the letter of the Badatz signed by R. Tzvi Pesach Frank, R. Yerucham Fishel Bernstein and R. Eliyahu Romm; and a lithograph of a letter signed and stamped by Chief Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook.
[8] leaves. 22 cm. Good condition. Stains and creases. New fabric binding.
Provenance: Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, B.1870.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.