Auction 85 - Judaica: Books, Manuscripts, Rabbinical Letters, Ceremonial Art
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Kohelet David, "List of the magnificent collection of books, curated and collected by the famous R. David Oppenheim, rabbi of Prague". Hamburg, 1826. Hebrew and Latin on facing pages.
Hebrew preface by author Isaac Metz and Latin preface by Cornelius Mueller.
The catalog lists thousands of books and manuscripts from the library of R. David Oppenheim, rabbi of Nikolsburg and Prague. The collection was eventually acquired by the Bodleian Library in Oxford.
R. David Oppenheim (1664-1736) was a wealthy Torah scholar, rabbi, yeshiva dean and kabbalist. In 1690, he was appointed rabbi of Nikolsburg (Mikulov) and Chief Rabbi of Moravia. Twenty years later, he was appointed rabbi of Prague, eventually serving as chief rabbi of Bohemia until his death. R. David cherished books and privately compiled the most important Jewish library of his times, containing thousands of volumes of rare books and manuscripts.
XVI, 742, [2] pages. 18.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minor wear and creases to margins. Soft cover, with damage.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Rabbinische Gutachten über die Beschneidung [Rabbinical opinions on circumcision], compiled by Salomon Abraham Trier [R. Shlomo Zalman son of Avraham Trier]. Frankfurt am Main, 1844. German and Hebrew.
On the flyleaf, a handwritten inscription (in German and Hebrew) by "Dr. Wormser" [R. Shlomo Wormser (1814-1887), son of R. Shmuel Wormser Rabbi of Langen-Schwalbach and grandson of R. Shlomo Zalman Worms Rabbi of Fulda]. He relates that he received the book in 1845 from his teacher, R. Zalman Trier (compiler of the book; ordained Dr. Wormser for the rabbinate in 1834). He writes that R. Trier harshly criticized him for not writing an opinion letter to be published in this book.
In 1843, a Frankfurt-based newspaper published an article calling for the complete abolition of the mitzvah of circumcision, signed "Friends of the Reform". That same year, the Reform pedagogue Joseph Johlson (1777-1851) published a booklet in which he stated that every Jewish institution is entitled to replace circumcision with a different ritual. The group "Friends of the Reform" alleged that circumcision was the cause of crib deaths; due to the group's lobbying, the municipality of Frankfurt agreed to list uncircumcised children as Jews in the population registrars.
The rabbi of Frankfurt, R. Shlomo Zalman Trier (1758-1847), vigorously fought this decision and submitted several petitions to the municipality, stating that by Jewish law an uncircumcised boy cannot be called a Jew.
Simultaneously, R. Trier (together with R. Yissachar Ber Adler and R. Aharon Fuld) began to collect opinion letters from leading rabbis and Jewish intellectuals, on the importance of circumcision. 28 of these letters were printed in the present book. Among the writers: R. Yitzchak Dov HaLevi Bamberger of Würzburg; R. Samson Raphael Hirsch (then Rabbi of Emden); R. Yaakov Ettlinger of Altona, the Aruch LaNer; R. Yaakov Zvi Mecklenburg, author of HaKtav VehaKabbalah; Leopold Zunz of Berlin; Isaak Noah Mannheimer of Vienna and Samuel David Luzzatto (Shadal) of Padua.
XXIV, 240 pages. 19.5 cm. Good condition. Original binding.
Noted on the title page: "Als manuskript gedruckt" [printed as a manuscript]. R. Binyamin Shlomo Hamburger (in his book HaYeshiva HaRama BeFiurda) explains that in order to avoid a public controversy, very few copies of the book were printed and they were never sold by booksellers. R. Hamburger writes that the book is scarce.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Printed proclamation from the rabbis of Warsaw with instructions on how to relate to the non-Jewish population, in attempt to pacify them during the tense times of the 1881-1882 pogroms. Warsaw, Iyar 1881.
Signed in print by 11 rabbis of Warsaw, with the original stamp of the Warsaw Beit Din. This proclamation was published during difficult times for Russian and Polish Jewry, after the assassination of Czar Alexander II led to a series of pogroms in 1881-1882 (these pogroms were actively encouraged by the Russian authorities in order to divert the attention of the populace from the corrupt government).
[1] leaf. 35.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Creases and wear. Marginal open tears, not affecting text.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Manuscript, Hazkarat Neshamot pinkas (memorial book) of the burial society of Szeged (Hungary), [1879 onward].
Printed in gold on thick paper at the front of the pinkas: "Chevra Kadisha Gemilut Chassadim – Szeged, Elul 1879".
The pinkas lists hundreds of names of community members, including the rabbis and dayanim (R. Tzvi Bak, R. Yehuda [Leopold] Löw, R. Yosef Klein, R. Yosef Eliezer Bak and R. Elazar Ze'ev Seelenfreund).
With an inscription in memory of Lady Judith Montefiore, wife of Sir Moses Montefiore.
The Montefiores financially supported many charity organizations in Jewish communities worldwide. As a token of appreciation, they were appointed honorary presidents or honorary members of many Jewish organizations, and were mentioned in synagogue prayers.
More than 20 written leaves, and many more empty pages. 20 cm. Good condition. Stains. Tears and wear. Pieces of paper with handwritten corrections on some leaves. Fine velvet binding, with gilt design. Damage to binding.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Three leaves printed in Yas (Iași), ca. 1880-1904:
• Proclamation with rabbinic letters addressed to the Rumnik Sarat community (Râmnicu Sărat, Romania), regarding the polemic against a rival rabbi named R. Fishel, who established an independent community and brought in his own shochet. With letters from: R. Uri Shraga Feivel Taubes Rabbi of Yas, R. Avraham Yehoshua Heshel Friedman (rebbe of Bohush-Ruzhin), R. Aryeh Leibish Meisels head of the Premishla Beit Din. Yas, 1902.
• Proclamation, "The ban is annulled" – letter from R. Uri Shraga Feivel Taubes Rabbi of Yas, annulling the ban pronounced by one of the rabbis of Yas against some of the shochetim in town. Yas, Kislev 1904.
• Large leaf, "Juramant Israeletini" (Jewish Oath) in Hebrew and Romanian, completed by hand in Romanian (in Hebrew and Latin characters). Signed by R. Sender Taubes. Yas, November 1883.
Three large leaves. Size and condition vary.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.