Pri Yitzchak, commentary on Sefer Yetzirah, by the kabbalist R. Yitzchak Eizik of Polotsk. Horodna, 1797. First edition.
This copy includes the approbation by R. Saadya of Vilna in the name of his teacher the Gaon of Vilna, printed on a piece of paper and pasted on the verso of the title page. This piece of paper is rare (we know of only one other copy containing it – the NLI copy).
In his approbation, R. Saadya son of R. Natan Nota of Vilna, disciple of the Gaon of Vilna, relates that he asked his teacher whether to publish the book, and the Gaon of Vilna approved and blessed it.
The author, R. Yitzchak Eizik son of R. Yekutiel Zalman of Polotsk also authored a commentary on Tikunei Zohar, published under the title Be'er Yitzchak (Zhovkva, 1778), in which he brings novellae which he heard from the Gaon of Vilna. This is one of the first books quoting teachings of the Gaon of Vilna in his lifetime.
Copy of R. Yosef Zundel of Salant. His signature appears at the foot of the title page: "Zundel of Salant, 10 kopecks". Another inscription by R. Zundel, on the endpaper, documents the purchase of the book, in his youth in Vilna (in the lifetime of his father) " I purchased from R. Yosef the bookseller of Vilna in the synagogue courtyard, Yosef Zundel son of R. Beinush of Salant".
A later inscription in his handwriting at the top of the title page: " I found it in the public auction of R. Avraham son of R. Meir, and I recognized it as mine, and I don’t know how it came into his possession, and I bought it for 80 Para (Ottoman currency)". Other inscriptions and signatures.
R. Yosef Zundel of Salant (1787-1866) was a foremost disciple of R. Chaim of Volozhin, disciple of the Gaon of Vilna, and the prime teacher of R. Yisrael of Salant. R. Zundel studied in the Volozhin yeshiva, and was attached to the yeshiva dean, R. Chaim of Volozhin, who recognized his great stature and admitted him into the circle of his closest disciples, to whom he transmitted all the teachings of his great teacher the Gaon of Vilna, in revealed and hidden realms of the Torah. R. Zundel was the main transmitter of the teachings of the Gaon of Vilna and R. Chaim of Volozhin. In his writings, which contain numerous excerpts and notes from their teachings and ways, he refers to R. Chaim of Volozhin as "my master and teacher" and to the Gaon of Vilna as "the great rabbi".
R. Yosef Zundel is considered the father of the mussar movement since he was the teacher of the movement's founder, R. Yisrael of Salant. In his youth in Salant, R. Yisrael cleaved to R. Yosef Zundel, who transmitted to him the teachings of the Gaon of Vilna, and under his directives began studying mussar intensely and disseminating the mussar approach to the multitudes.
Parts of his writings were published in the book HaTzaddik R. Yosef Zundel MiSalant VeRabbotav (Jerusalem, 1927), which includes his biography, his writings and the writings of his teachers R. Chaim of Volozhin and the Gaon of Vilna, of which he was the main transmitter. His prominent son-in-law was R. Shmuel Salant, who immigrated after him to Jerusalem and served as its rabbi for close to seventy years.
[7], 36, [1] leaves. Lacking 4 of [11] leaves at beginning. 16.5 cm. Fair condition. Stains, including dampstains. Wear. Worming, affecting text. Stamps. Original binding. Wear, damage and worming to binding.
Vinograd, Thesaurus of the Books of the Vilna Gaon, no. 992.
Provenance: The Yeshayahu Vinograd Collection, Jerusalem.