Auction 95 Early Printed Books, Chassidut and Kabbalah, Letters and Manuscripts, Engravings and Jewish Ceremonial Objects
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![Mishneh Torah by the Rambam. Berditchev: Shmuel son of Yissachar Ber Segal, [1808-1809]. First edition of Mishneh Torah by th](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale95/89_1.jpg "Mishneh Torah by the Rambam – Berditchev, 1808-1809 – Complete Set in")
![Mishneh Torah by the Rambam. Berditchev: Shmuel son of Yissachar Ber Segal, [1808-1809]. First edition of Mishneh Torah by th](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale95/89_2.jpg "Mishneh Torah by the Rambam – Berditchev, 1808-1809 – Complete Set in")
Mishneh Torah by the Rambam. Berditchev: Shmuel son of Yissachar Ber Segal, [1808-1809]. First edition of Mishneh Torah by the Rambam to be printed in Berditchev. Complete set in four volumes.
A few glosses in the first and fourth volume, including two glosses signed "Shlomo Tzvi". Many glosses in the second volume.
On the title page of the second volume, signatures of the philanthropist R. "Shaul son of Noach of Parichi Papiernia".
At the end of the fourth volume is a yahrzeit inscription.
Four volumes: First volume: [8], 278 leaves. Volume II: [4], 260 leaves. Volume III: [2], 389, [1] leaves. Volume IV: [2], 309, [1] leaves. 37.5 cm. Varying condition, good-fair to fair. Stains, including dampstains. Worming, affecting most of the volumes. Small tears and open tears (including to title page of volumes I and IV, due to torn stamps), affecting text in several places (in volume III some tears are repaired with tape). Inscriptions. Stamps. New, uniform bindings.
In the first volume, as in some copies, the title page and following leaf are taken from Part III (with indexes for Part III), but the title page is misprinted as Part I (instead of Part III).
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
![Levush by R. Mordechai Yoffe. Berditchev: R. Yisrael son of Avraham [Bak] (a disciple of R. Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev and R](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale95/90_1.jpg "Levush – Berditchev, 1818-1821 – Printed by Rabbi Yisrael Bak – Comple")
![Levush by R. Mordechai Yoffe. Berditchev: R. Yisrael son of Avraham [Bak] (a disciple of R. Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev and R](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale95/90_2.jpg "Levush – Berditchev, 1818-1821 – Printed by Rabbi Yisrael Bak – Comple")
Levush by R. Mordechai Yoffe. Berditchev: R. Yisrael son of Avraham [Bak] (a disciple of R. Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev and Rebbe Yisrael of Ruzhin) and his partner R. Yosef son of Tzvi, [1818-1821]. Complete set, five parts in five volumes. Divisional title pages. Some words on the title page printed in red ink.
Complete set of Levush to the four parts of the Shulchan Aruch – Levush HaTechelet and Levush HaChur on Orach Chaim (with commentary Eliyahu Zuta by R. Eliyahu Shapiro, Rabbi of Tykocin) – 1818; Levush Ateret Zahav on Yoreh Deah (with commentary Chagorat Shmuel by R. Shmuel of Lenzburg) – 1819; Levush HaButz VeArgaman on Even HaEzer – 1819; Levush Ir Shushan on Chosen Mishpat – 1821.
Ownership inscription of “R. Meir son of R. Mordechai” in third volume; in fourth volume, stamps of R. “Aharon Tzvi Weizner, head of the Beit Din of Linz and the region” (1906-2007; Rabbi of Przemyśl and additional places).
Five volumes. Volume I – Levush HaTechelet. Volume II – Levush HaChur. Volume III – Levush Ateret Zahav. Volume IV – Levush HaButz VeArgaman. Volume V – Levush Ir Shushan.
Five volumes. Volume I (Levush HaTechelet): 64 leaves. Volume II (Levush HaChur): [1]. 65-200 leaves. Volume III (Ateret Zahav): 182 leaves. Volume IV (Levush HaButz VeArgaman): [1], 30; 33-52; 55-88 leaves. Volume V (Levush Ir Shushan): 8, 11-148; [12] leaves (last leaf numbered 180). Misfoliation in most volumes. Approx. 33-34 cm. Partially bluish paper. Overall good-fair condition. Stains, including dampstains. Worming, affecting text (heavy worming to last leaves of volume V). Tears, including open tears, slightly affecting text of volume I and volume II, partially repaired with paper. Stamps. New bindings (uniform).
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
![Collection of books printed in Zhovkva, 1728-1844:
• Chiddushei Halachot – Maharsha. Zhovkva, [1728]. Dedication on title pa](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale95/91_1.jpg "Collection of Books Printed in Zhovkva – 1728-1844 – Signatures and St")
![Collection of books printed in Zhovkva, 1728-1844:
• Chiddushei Halachot – Maharsha. Zhovkva, [1728]. Dedication on title pa](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale95/91_2.jpg "Collection of Books Printed in Zhovkva – 1728-1844 – Signatures and St")
![Collection of books printed in Zhovkva, 1728-1844:
• Chiddushei Halachot – Maharsha. Zhovkva, [1728]. Dedication on title pa](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale95/91_3.jpg "Collection of Books Printed in Zhovkva – 1728-1844 – Signatures and St")
Collection of books printed in Zhovkva, 1728-1844:
• Chiddushei Halachot – Maharsha. Zhovkva, [1728]. Dedication on title page.
• Beit Levi, novellae by R. Levi son of R. Shlomo of Brody. Zhovkva, [1732]. Signatures.
• Chiddushei Halachot, Part I – Neta Shaashuim, by R. Dov Ber of Pinsk. Zhovkva, [1748].
• Seder HaDorot by R. Yechiel Halpern. Zhovkva, 1808. Signatures on title page, including: "Moshe David Shapiro" [apparently R. Moshe David Shapiro of Będzin].
• Tosefot Shabbat, on Shulchan Aruch, laws of Shabbat. Zhovkva, [1806].
• Halachot Gedolot. Zhovkva, 1811. Signatures on title page. Signature on endpaper: "Yoel Katz, Rabbi of Ardud" [author of Responsa Tirat Kesef and more].
• Machatzit HaShekel, on Magen Avraham, by R. Shmuel Kelin. Zhovkva, 1838. Stamp of "Chachmei Lublin yeshiva bookbindery". Ownership inscriptions on endpaper.
• Simlah Chadashah, Tevuot Shor and Bechor Shor by R. Alexander Sender Schorr. Zhovkva, 1840-1841. Stamp of R. Eliyahu Menachem Goitein, Rabbi of Hőgyész [R. Eliyahu Menachem Goitein (1838-1902), disciple of the Ketav Sofer, served as Rabbi of Hőgyész succeeding his father R. Tzvi Hirsch Goitein and his grandfather R. Baruch Bendit Goitein].
• Tiv Gittin, on Tractate Gittin, by R. Tzvi Hirsch Heller. Zhovkva, 1844. Signature; stamp (somewhat deleted): "Tzvi Yechiel Segal Hirsch, Rabbi of Erdőtelek and the region" [author of Tzvi VeChamid].
9 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.
Collection of books printed in Russia-Poland, 1760s-1810s.
Signatures and stamps.
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.
Manuscript poem, in honor of "the famous philanthropist R. Hertz", written by R. Natan Feitel son of R. Yitzchak of Vilna. [Vilna, 1819.]
Written on double leaf. On the outer page is a frame with fine decorations (embossed). In the center of the page is an illustration of the Tablets of the Law and a micrographic "Crown of Torah". At the bottom of the page, in minute letters, is the colophon of the writer.
On the inner page appears the poem, with the acrostic "the famous philanthropist R. Hertz".
We do not know who the philanthropist is for whom the poem was written, nor do we have details on the writer.
[1] double leaf. Good-fair condition. Stains. Minute tears. Placed in a new case.
Provenance: Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, EE.011.009.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Letter handwritten and signed by R. Eliyahu Levinson. Memel (Prussia; today: Klaipėda, Lithuania), Tevet 1863.
Sent to Jerusalem, to his friend R. Shmuel Salant and member of his court R. Binyamin David of Vilna. Letter regarding sending funds to Jerusalem, to public institutions and private individuals.
In the margins of the leaf is an additional letter, also handwritten and signed by R. Eliyahu, to his uncle R. Yechiel Ichel who lived in Jerusalem.
R. Eliyahu (Elinke) of Kretinga (1822-1888), studied in his youth in Salant under R. Yosef Zundel of Salant, during which time he became the close friend and disciple of R. Yisrael Salanter and R. Shmuel Salant. He remained the close disciple of R. Yisrael his whole life, was his close attendant in public activism and a staunch proponent of the Musar movement founded by R. Yisrael Salanter. Though he was one of the prominent Torah scholars of his generation, he refused to serve as rabbi and dealt in trade and banking. R. Elinke was a foremost leader of Russian Jewry and a leading lobbyist in the upper echelons of the government. He was an administrator and trustee of the Eretz Israel funds for over forty years.
[1] leaf. 28 cm. Thin, bluish stationery. Good condition. Stains. Folds.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Letter (3 pages) handwritten and signed by R. Yaakov Yosef, Rav HaKolel (chief rabbi). New York, 1890.
Sent to R. Azriel Hildesheimer in Berlin, on the occasion of his 70th birthday. R. Yaakov Yosef blesses him to reach a ripe old age. He goes on to tell of the passing of R. Hirsch Zak, the president of the Association of Congregations in New York, describing him as a God-fearing and honest person who shared his money generously. He goes on to discuss appointing a reliable person as a mashgiach to help him repair the kosher system in the United States.
R. Yaakov Yosef (1841-1902), a leading Lithuanian Torah scholar, appointed in his later years as Chief Rabbi in New York (the first and last rabbi to serve as chief rabbi of New York or any other state).
A prominent disciple of R. Yisrael Salanter, he served in the rabbinates of Veliuona, Jurbarkas and New Žagarė, and was later appointed orator and head posek of Vilna. In 1888, he was appointed chief rabbi of New York by the Association of Congregations who sought an illustrious personage to bolster Torah observance in the United States. Upon his arrival in the United States, R. Yaakov Yosef established and consolidated all religious requirements of the Jewish community, and he founded the first yeshiva in the United States.
[1] double leaf (containing [3] written pages). 19 cm. Good condition.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Three responsa queries sent to R. Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin (the Netziv), Rabbi and yeshiva dean of Volozhin.
• Lengthy letter (4 pages) to the Netziv from his student R. Shlomo Zalman Ginzburg. [Byalynichy], [15 Sivan], 1891. Contains halachic question on various topics in the halachot of shechita and terefot. Apologizing for disturbing his teacher but underlining its necessity, he asks a few questions about the laws of terefot. Over its course, he also asks the Netziv whether the rumor he heard is true that the Netziv had retracted one of his halachic decisions in Haamek Shealah.
[1] double leaf (containing 4 written pages). 21 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains, tears and folds, repaired with tape. Worming, slightly affecting text.
• Letter to the Netziv from his student R. Efraim Binyamin son of Avraham of Uzda, studying in Vievis, who sends his teacher Torah thoughts from tractate Bava Batra. Vievis, [ca. 1880s-1890s]. With enclosed booklet of Torah novellae on inheritance (the beginning of the booklet is missing, and only the letter and the two last pages of the booklet remain).
[1] double leaf (containing 3 written pages), 33 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Tears and folds.
• Lengthy letter to the Netziv, by R. Lima son of Yaakov Pitikovski, prayer leader and shochet in Trachtenberg (Żmigród, Silesia), [1892]. Halachic query on the laws of idolatry asked by a poor person in his city who produced gravestones for gentiles, asking whether it was permitted to place a Christian symbol on the gravestone. He goes on to write about matters of public advocacy against persecution of Jews, and the Netziv's efforts in the matter.
[1] leaf. 28.5 cm. Written on both sides. Fair-good condition. Stains, tears and folds, repaired with tape, including open tears, affecting text in some places.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Collection of over 30 letters sent to R. Chaim Berlin, Rabbi of Moscow, Kobryn, Yelisavetgrad and Jerusalem. Many of them deal with Torah matters and halachic and public questions.
The letters include:
• Letter from R. Avraham Hoffenberg, Rabbi of Vaškai, lament for the passing of his teacher the Netziv of Volozhin. Vaškai (Panevėžys county), [Elul 1893].
• Letter (on official postcard by R. Moshe Nachum Yerushalimsky, Rabbi of Kielce. [Tevet 1904].
• Letter of R. Moshe Yaakov Grinbarg, Rabbi of Radzin. Radzin, 1886.
• Letter of R. Bentzion, rabbi and posek in Radzin, [1881].
• Letter of the shochet R. Menachem Nachum Yoselman of Shklow, 1881.
• Letter of R. Gershon son of Reuven, Rabbi of Quba (Azerbaijan), Cheshvan 1880.
• Four letters by R. Mordechai Friedman of Międzyrzec Podlaski [author of Poteach Davar]. Międzyrzec Podlaski, [1888-1889/1904].
• Letter of R. Yehudah Leib HaKohen, Rabbi of Jonava. [1896].
• Letter of R. Yehudah Lieberman, Samara, [ca. 1880s-1890s].
• Letter (2 pages excluding signature leaf), regarding receiving R. Chaim Berlin as Rabbi of Kobryn. [1890s, ca. 1893].
• Two letters on postcards by R. Dov Aryeh Ritter, Rabbi of Rotterdam. Rotterdam, 1895.
• Letter of R. Yosef HaKohen Fendler, Rabbi of Dunaivtsi. 1901.
• Letter of R. Aryeh Leib Frumkin and R. Yitzchak Sovalsky. Nisan 1902.
• Letter of R. Yehudah Yudel Nastaskin, Rabbi of Smila (Ukraine), [Kislev 1903].
• Letter of R. Yosef Rotman (son of R. Moshe Rabbi of Horodyshche). [Smila, 1899].
• Letter of R. Aharon HaLevi Goldman, Rabbi of Moisés Ville. Argentina, 1909.
• Letter and halachic responsum by R. Levi Yitzchak HaKohen Navidovitz, Rabbi of Raška, [ca. 1890s].
• Letter of R. Ze'ev Wolf Vishniak. Moscow, 1902.
• Two letters of R. Alter Heller Brody. Warsaw, [1895].
• Letter of R. Avraham son of Moshe Temkin. Siedlce, 1903.
• Letter of R. Yisrael Moshe Goldberg, Rabbi of Myrhorod (Kherson region), Adar 1903.
• Document of sale of chametz handwritten by R. Chaim Berlin, Yelisavetgrad, Nisan 1905.
• Letter of R. Meir Freiman. New York, 1910; and more letters and copies of letters.
Over 30 letters comprising over 40 leaves. Size and condition Vary. Overall good condition.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Large assorted collection of letters of rabbis from Russia and Ukraine. Ca. late 19th and early 20th century, including some 14 letters to R. Chaim Berlin, Rabbi of Moscow, Yelisavetgrad (Kropyvnytskyi) and Jerusalem.
30 letters. Varying size and condition. Most in good condition.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
![Letter from R. Baruch Ber Leibowitz, dean of the Knesset Beit Yitzchak yeshiva in Kamenets. [Kamenets, 1930s].
Letter in Yid](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale95/301.jpg "Letter of Blessings and Thanks from Rabbi Baruch Ber Leibowitz – Kamen")
Letter from R. Baruch Ber Leibowitz, dean of the Knesset Beit Yitzchak yeshiva in Kamenets. [Kamenets, 1930s].
Letter in Yiddish addressed to the Feigin family in Philadelphia, United States, donors of the yeshiva. R. Baruch Ber showers them with many blessings and thanks for their generous support of the yeshiva, describes the learning conditions in the yeshiva and how many students came from America to study in the yeshiva, including some likely to be the next generation's scholars.
The letter is mostly typewritten, and concludes with about 6 lines of warm and heartfelt blessings handwritten by the yeshiva's dean R. Baruch Ber Leibowitz.
R. Baruch Dov (Ber) Leibowitz (1864-1940), author of Birkat Shmuel, a leading Torah educator, was a disciple of R. Chaim of Brisk in the Volozhin yeshiva. He established a yeshiva in Hlusk, and later headed the Knesset Beit Yitzchak yeshiva in Slabodka. During World War I, he followed the displaced yeshiva to Minsk, Kremenchuk and Vilna, finally settling in Kamenets. He authored Birkat Shmuel, a classic Talmudic work of in-depth yeshiva study.
[2] leaves, official stationery. Approx. 27.5 cm. Good condition. Stains and 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. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski; with several additional lines handwritten and signed by R. Chizkiyahu Yosef Yitzchak Mishkovski. Vilna, 4 Adar I, 1913.
Sent to Berlin, to the emissaries of the "General Committee" R. Tzvi Hirsch Salant and R. Rivlin. R. Chaim Ozer writes that R. Mishkovski was to travel to Jerusalem, and tersely mentions some matters he dealt with, apparently also for the Eretz Israel fund.
R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski (1863-1940) was a foremost rabbi of his generation and leader of European Jewry. A disciple of R. Chaim of Brisk, he was appointed rabbi and posek of Vilna at the age of 24. He assumed the yoke of public leadership from a young age, and for close to fifty years, his opinion was conclusive on all public matters. This letter shows how already as a young rabbi (under the age of 50), R. Chaim Ozer took on responsibility in communal affairs.
R. Chizkiyahu Yosef Yitzchak Mishkovski (1884-1946), Rabbi of Krynki, immigrated to Jerusalem in 1904 and kept the company of his renowned father-in-law R. Yitzchak Blazer, whose position as leader of the Vilna Kollel and General Committee he assumed upon his death. In 1913 he left Israel in connection with appointing a new rabbi for the Ashkenazi community in Jerusalem (the present letter was written during this period), where he stayed (despite his plan to return to Jerusalem mentioned by R. Chaim Ozer in the present letter), and was appointed Rabbi of Krynki after World War I. During and after the Holocaust he was active in rescue efforts and establishing Torah worldwide.
Postcard, 14x9 cm. Good condition. Stains. Postmarks (one postage stamp detached).
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.