Auction 72 - Rare and Important Items
Five Books of the Torah – First Edition of the Panim Yafot by the Haflaa – Ostroh, 1825-1826 – Five-Volume Set – Rabbi Akiva Eger's Blessing for those who Purchase the Book
Opening: $3,000
Estimate: $5,000 - $8,000
Sold for: $18,750
Including buyer's premium
Five books of the Torah, with the Rashi commentary, Baal HaTurim and the Panim Yafot commentary by R. Pinchas HaLevi Horowitz Rabbi of Frankfurt am Main. Ostroh, 1825-1826. First edition. With the approbations of the Ohev Yisrael of Apta, R. Akiva Eger, the Chatam Sofer, R. Yaakov of Lissa and the Baruch Taam.
Five parts in five volumes. The title page states: "Panim Yafot… part III of the Haflaa composition". The first parts of the Haflaa: Ketuba on Tractate Ketubot (Offenbach 1787) and HaMikneh on Tractate Kiddushin (Offenbach 1801).
This book was published two decades after the passing of the author. The book consists of commentaries on the Torah, following various approaches – the basic meaning, pilpul, derush, remez, ethics, kabbalah and chassidut. The book was compiled and brought to press by the mechutan of the author, R. Efraim Zalman of Brody, who also composed a lengthy, detailed and interesting foreword, printed at the beginning of the book. R. Efraim also added at the end of the volumes his own commentary to Rashi, named Shem Efraim.
In his approbation, R. Akiva Eger describes the importance and great merit that lies in the purchase of this book.
R. Pinchas HaLevi Ish Horowitz, rabbi of Frankfurt am Main, author of the Haflaa (1731-1805), served in his youth as rabbi of Witkowo and Lachovice. On 26th Tevet 1772, he was appointed rabbi and dean of Frankfurt am Main, which at that time was the largest Torah center in Germany. He held this position for over thirty-three years, until his passing. He edified many disciples in his yeshiva, the most prominent of them being his close disciple the Chatam Sofer. He led the battles agains Haskalah and the reform movement. R. Pinchas and his Torah novellae were held in high regard by all the leaders of his generation, whether Chassidic or opponents of Chassidut.
At the end of 1771, shortly before he arrived in Frankfurt, R. Pinchas spent several weeks together with his brother R. Shmelke Rabbi of Nikolsburg, by the Maggid of Mezeritch, where they absorbed the secrets of Torah and worship of G-d from the Maggid and his leading disciples (the Mitteler Rebbe of Lubavitch relates to this in his famous foreword to Shulchan Aruch HaRav, first printed in 1814). The Tzemach Tzedek of Lubavitch defines R. Pinchas as a disciple of the Maggid (Likutei Torah, Bamidbar, Zhitomir 1848, p. 29b, in a gloss on the words of his grandfather the Baal HaTanya). In his book Panim Yafot, the Haflaa brings several principles from the teachings of the Maggid of Mezeritch (see: Erkei HaHaflaa, Jerusalem 2006, I, pp. 40-41), although he only mentions him explicitly in one place, in Parashat Beshalach (p. 57b), in the commentary to "Vayavo'u Marata" (some claim that the omission of the name of the Maggid from the book Panim Yafot is the fault of the copyists of the manuscript. In his foreword, the publisher R. Efraim Zalman Margolies states that the book was not printed based on the author's own manuscript, but from a copying produced by one of the grandsons of the author, "based on a copying of the book produced by various scribes", meaning that the book was printed based on a third hand copy. This claims still does not explain the fact that the name of the Maggid of Mezeritch is not mentioned in any of the books published by the Haflaa in his lifetime, even when the source of the ideas quoted is from the teachings of the Maggid).
Signature at the beginning of the Shemot volume: "Nissim Eini" – signature of the kabbalist R. Nissim Eini, Torah scholar and kabbalist of the Beit El yeshiva in Jerusalem. On the verso of the title page, ownership inscription handwritten by his son: "Yaakov son of Nissim Eini".
Signatures and ownership inscriptions of R. Yaakov son of R. Avraham Abba Pargamin (Plinsker) of Plotsk on several volumes. Inscription at the beginning of the Vayikra volume: "This Chumash belongs to R. Mendel son of R. Avraham Rabbi of this city, Plotsk".
Five volumes. Two title pages for each volume (Bereshit volume lacking one title page). One concise title page (printed in red and black ink), and a second, more detailed title page.
Bereshit: [3], 126; 2-7 leaves. Lacking first title page. Shemot: [3], 100, 100-105, 105-112, 121-168, 149-160, 166-171, [1]; 10, [3] leaves. Lacking 14 final leaves (containing the Shem Efraim commentary). Vayikra: [2], 26, 26-59, 58-139, [2]; 6, [6] leaves. Lacking 1 leaf of Shir HaShirim. Bamidbar: [2], 146; 3, [2] leaves. Devarim: [2], 153; 18, [2] leaves. Lacking 6 final leaves (containing the Shem Efraim commentary to the Books of Vayikra-Devarim). Approx. 21 cm. Overall fair condition. Stains and wear. Worming. Shemot and Bamidbar in fair-poor condition, with worming to many leaves. Tears to many leaves of Bamidbar, some repaired. Inner margins of title pages repaired with tape. New bindings (one in a different color).
Five parts in five volumes. The title page states: "Panim Yafot… part III of the Haflaa composition". The first parts of the Haflaa: Ketuba on Tractate Ketubot (Offenbach 1787) and HaMikneh on Tractate Kiddushin (Offenbach 1801).
This book was published two decades after the passing of the author. The book consists of commentaries on the Torah, following various approaches – the basic meaning, pilpul, derush, remez, ethics, kabbalah and chassidut. The book was compiled and brought to press by the mechutan of the author, R. Efraim Zalman of Brody, who also composed a lengthy, detailed and interesting foreword, printed at the beginning of the book. R. Efraim also added at the end of the volumes his own commentary to Rashi, named Shem Efraim.
In his approbation, R. Akiva Eger describes the importance and great merit that lies in the purchase of this book.
R. Pinchas HaLevi Ish Horowitz, rabbi of Frankfurt am Main, author of the Haflaa (1731-1805), served in his youth as rabbi of Witkowo and Lachovice. On 26th Tevet 1772, he was appointed rabbi and dean of Frankfurt am Main, which at that time was the largest Torah center in Germany. He held this position for over thirty-three years, until his passing. He edified many disciples in his yeshiva, the most prominent of them being his close disciple the Chatam Sofer. He led the battles agains Haskalah and the reform movement. R. Pinchas and his Torah novellae were held in high regard by all the leaders of his generation, whether Chassidic or opponents of Chassidut.
At the end of 1771, shortly before he arrived in Frankfurt, R. Pinchas spent several weeks together with his brother R. Shmelke Rabbi of Nikolsburg, by the Maggid of Mezeritch, where they absorbed the secrets of Torah and worship of G-d from the Maggid and his leading disciples (the Mitteler Rebbe of Lubavitch relates to this in his famous foreword to Shulchan Aruch HaRav, first printed in 1814). The Tzemach Tzedek of Lubavitch defines R. Pinchas as a disciple of the Maggid (Likutei Torah, Bamidbar, Zhitomir 1848, p. 29b, in a gloss on the words of his grandfather the Baal HaTanya). In his book Panim Yafot, the Haflaa brings several principles from the teachings of the Maggid of Mezeritch (see: Erkei HaHaflaa, Jerusalem 2006, I, pp. 40-41), although he only mentions him explicitly in one place, in Parashat Beshalach (p. 57b), in the commentary to "Vayavo'u Marata" (some claim that the omission of the name of the Maggid from the book Panim Yafot is the fault of the copyists of the manuscript. In his foreword, the publisher R. Efraim Zalman Margolies states that the book was not printed based on the author's own manuscript, but from a copying produced by one of the grandsons of the author, "based on a copying of the book produced by various scribes", meaning that the book was printed based on a third hand copy. This claims still does not explain the fact that the name of the Maggid of Mezeritch is not mentioned in any of the books published by the Haflaa in his lifetime, even when the source of the ideas quoted is from the teachings of the Maggid).
Signature at the beginning of the Shemot volume: "Nissim Eini" – signature of the kabbalist R. Nissim Eini, Torah scholar and kabbalist of the Beit El yeshiva in Jerusalem. On the verso of the title page, ownership inscription handwritten by his son: "Yaakov son of Nissim Eini".
Signatures and ownership inscriptions of R. Yaakov son of R. Avraham Abba Pargamin (Plinsker) of Plotsk on several volumes. Inscription at the beginning of the Vayikra volume: "This Chumash belongs to R. Mendel son of R. Avraham Rabbi of this city, Plotsk".
Five volumes. Two title pages for each volume (Bereshit volume lacking one title page). One concise title page (printed in red and black ink), and a second, more detailed title page.
Bereshit: [3], 126; 2-7 leaves. Lacking first title page. Shemot: [3], 100, 100-105, 105-112, 121-168, 149-160, 166-171, [1]; 10, [3] leaves. Lacking 14 final leaves (containing the Shem Efraim commentary). Vayikra: [2], 26, 26-59, 58-139, [2]; 6, [6] leaves. Lacking 1 leaf of Shir HaShirim. Bamidbar: [2], 146; 3, [2] leaves. Devarim: [2], 153; 18, [2] leaves. Lacking 6 final leaves (containing the Shem Efraim commentary to the Books of Vayikra-Devarim). Approx. 21 cm. Overall fair condition. Stains and wear. Worming. Shemot and Bamidbar in fair-poor condition, with worming to many leaves. Tears to many leaves of Bamidbar, some repaired. Inner margins of title pages repaired with tape. New bindings (one in a different color).
Chassidic Books
Chassidic Books