Auction 85 - Judaica: Books, Manuscripts, Rabbinical Letters, Ceremonial Art
Manuscript, Judeo-Persian lexicon of Mishnaic words. [Persia], 1915-1916.
This work, authored by R. Shlomo Ababa son of Nuriel, is known in Persia as Michlal HaMishnah. The present volume covers three orders: Zera'im, Nashim and Kodashim.
Neat Persian script; words of the Mishnah vocalized. Color illustrations and ornaments (decorative element at beginning of each tractate in Orders Nashim and Kodashim).
Orders Nashim and Kodashim written on smaller leaves.
[38] leaves. Size varies, approx. 17-19 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains and wear. Tears, affecting text in several places. New binding.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Special Service for Passover Evening, for Jewish soldiers. Published by the Jewish War Services Committee for India, Calcutta, 1918. English.
Printed for a prayer service conducted at the Magen David synagogue in Calcutta. Includes a prayer in memory of those who fell during the war and a prayer in honor of the British royal family. On the last page – an instruction that all community members remain in their places at the end of the service until the soldiers leave the building.
[1], 22, [1] pages (including pink wrappers). Approx. 18 cm. Good condition. Minor stains.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Manuscript, Sefer Goralot Shel Urim V'Tumim. [India, ca. 19th century].
Complete manuscript, on blue paper, in neat Oriental script. Includes many charts for performing a Goral Urim V'Tumim. The introduction states that "these are the Urim and Tumim used during the second Temple, composed by the seventy elders of the times of the King of Egypt… this book contains wonderful and great esoteric secrets".
[19], 72 pages. 16.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. New binding.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Judeo-Arabic translation (Sharh) of the Five Books of the Torah. [Bombay, ca. 1865]. Lithographed.
Printed without a title page. Lithographed manuscript. The book is written in Oriental, semi-cursive script, with the exception of the first 17 pages, which are written in square letters.
Colophon on the last page: "Completed all the Five Books of the Torah… the scribe Yechezkel Abed Yom Tov Moshe".
136; 112; 100; 143; 115 pages. Lacking pages 113-122 from the second sequence (Shemot; originally: 122 pages. The weekly portion of Pekudei is lacking). Approx. 16 cm. Fair-good condition. Damage and large tears, affecting text on approx. five first leaves, with tape repairs. Tape repairs to several other leaves. Stains. Worming, affecting text on several leaves. Old, damaged binding.
Yaari, Hadefus HaIvri B'Artzot Hamizrach, Bombay, no. 21.
Rare. To the best of our knowledge, this book has never been offered at auction.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Seder Berachah Acharonah, lithograph poster. Published by Avraham Meir son of R. Yaakov Kopil HaKohen Neiman. Harbin: N. A. Frankel ("Типо-лит. Н. А. Френкеля"), 1934.
Al HaMichyah blessing with Yiddish instructions, set in a black and orange border, with medallions containing Stars of David. The border is surmounted by a large Star of David containing hands raised for the Priestly Blessing, flanked by a pair of lions.
In the early 20th century, Harbin became an administrative center situated on the railway from Russia to China, prompting the immigration of Russian Jews. In 1908, about 8000 Jews were living in the city. The flow of Russian refugees increased after WWI and in the early 1930s, the community peaked at 15,000 Jewish residents, with schools, hospitals, old-age homes, a library, etc., also providing organized assistance to refugees. During these years, dozens of Jewish-owned companies operated in Harbin and the community prospered as a center of Jewish culture. Newspapers were printed, plays were produced and in 1927, the community hosted the first Far-East Zionist convention. At the end of the Russian occupation in 1928, an economic crisis hit the city and the situation of Jews took a turn for the worst. Under the Japanese occupation (1931-1945) the Jewish community was persecuted and its freedom was limited. After WWII, Jews emigrated from the city until organized Jewish life in Harbin came to an end altogether.
[1] leaf. 25X39 cm. Fair condition. Bottom of leaf torn along entire width, reinforced with tape. Tears and open tears, some repaired with paper. Pinholes. Stains. Folding marks.
Not listed in the NLI catalog nor in the OCLC.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Sale deed recording transfer of property ownership. Teheran, Adar 1928. Judeo-Persian, some Hebrew.
Ink on cloth.
Sale deed of a two-story building in Teheran, including appraisal details.
The deed is handwritten on a large piece of cloth, and is signed by the buyer, seller and witnesses. Inscriptions in Persian (in Arabic scrip) dated 1965 on verso, regarding the sale of the property to new buyers (with signatures in Arabic, Hebrew and fingerprints).
Deeds handwritten on cloth are rare.
58X40 cm. Fair-good condition. Folding marks. Two dampstains across cloth, slightly affecting text.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.