Notebook handwritten by R. Shmuel Rozovsky, a dean of the Ponovezh yeshiva, novellae on Tractate Yevamot, novellae on the topic of Brit Milah and conversion, and novellae on Tractate Ketubot. [Bnei Brak? ca. 1950s].
Autograph manuscript, with additions and deletions. R. Shmuel mentions teachings he heard in person from his teachers and from leading Torah scholars of his time such as R. Shimon Shkop (p. 2), R. Yitzchak Ze'ev Soloveitchik of Brisk (p. 23), R. Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman (p. 18), and R. Aharon Kohen dean of the Hebron yeshiva, author of Beit Aharon (p. 8). R. Shmuel also quotes the comments of some of his disciples and colleagues in the Ponovezh yeshiva, such as R. Gershon Edelstein (p. 34 of Tractate Ketubot; see also p. 15 of Tractate Yevamot).
In the present notebook, R. Shmuel explains and clarifies the teachings of the Rishonim and leading Acharonim on the Talmudic topics at hand. He relates to the famous difficulty which R. Shaul Berlin raises in his comments to the book Besamim Rosh (titled Kasa DeHarsena), which is discussed by leading Acharonim such as the Minchat Chinuch, the Aruch LaNer and R. Elchanan Wasserman. He also quotes many teachings from R. Chaim of Brisk, stressing on each occasion the source of these teachings: "R. Chaim in his book" [the book Chiddushei Rabbenu Chaim HaLevi on the Rambam, published by R. Chaim with great accuracy]; "the writings of the disciples of R. Chaim" [Chiddushei HaGrach, stencil edition]; and "Kitvei R. Chaim" [R. Chaim's own writings, which were not published in his book on the Rambam; some of which were published in the stencil edition of Chiddushei HaGrach].
R. Shmuel Rozovsky (1913-1979) was the son of R. Michel David Rozovsky, a rabbi in Grodno (1869-1935). He studied under R. Shimon Shkop in the Shaar HaTorah yeshiva in Grodno (his hometown), in the Mir yeshiva in Poland and in the Lomza yeshiva in Petach Tikva. He was the son-in-law of R. Tzvi Pesach Frank, rabbi of Jerusalem. He served as lecturer in the Lomza yeshiva even before he got married. In Kislev 1943 he moved over with his disciples to the newly founded Ponovezh yeshiva in Bnei Brak, and was the first lecturer in the Ponovezh yeshiva. His lectures were the focal point of the Ponovezh yeshiva, where he gave over the Torah of the Lithuanian yeshivot to the new generation in Eretz Israel. His impact on the Torah world in our times was highly significant, and until this day the lectures in most yeshivot are based on the principles and approaches of R. Shmuel, which he absorbed from his teachers in the Grodno yeshiva and in the yeshivot in Lithuania. Already in his lifetime, his lectures were published based on his students' notes, which were photocopied and printed in various stencil editions. After his passing, his novellae and lectures were rearranged by his descendants and leading disciples, and published in Chidushei Rabbi Shmuel, Shiurei Rabbi Shmuel and Zichron Shmuel. When compiling these books, they used mostly the notes which his disciples took during the lectures, referring only minimally to R. Shmuel's own manuscripts, since he wrote very little of his own notes. Thus, most of his teachings were transmitted through his disciples' records.
The novellae on Tractate Yevamot were written on one side of the notebook, while the novellae on Tractate Ketubot were written on the other side, upside down (double pagination was later added, on each side of the notebook).

74 written pages. 20.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, wear and tears. Original card cover, torn and detached. One page of text written inside cover.