Auction 83 - Part I - Rare and Important Items
Responsa Me'il Tzedaka – Copy of the Noda BiYehuda, With a Gloss in His Handwriting
Opening: $15,000
Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000
Sold for: $20,000
Including buyer's premium
Responsa Me'il Tzedaka, by R. Yonah Landsofer. Prague, [1756].
Wide-margined copy. Copy of R. Yechezkel Landau, author of Noda BiYehuda, with a gloss in his handwriting.
His name (in his handwriting?) appears within the title page illustration (in Hebrew and Latin characters): "Yechezkel Landau – Ezeckiel Landau". At the top of the title page is an ownership inscription in his son's handwriting: "Belongs to my father... R. Yechezkel HaLevi Landau, rabbi here in Prague". On the last leaf (p. 82a) is another inscription in a different handwriting: "Belongs to the great luminary, the famous R. Yechezkel Segal Landau, rabbi of Prague". Many more Hebrew and German inscriptions appear on the endpapers, attesting that the book belonged to R. Yechezkel Landau, Rabbi of Prague.
On p. 31a, a long neat gloss, handwritten by the Noda BiYehuda, relating to a passage in Responsum 27 on the topic of the size of the gris (see below). This gloss was presumably never printed.
R. Yechezkel HaLevi Segal Landau (1713-1793) was a leading Halachic authority of all times, whom the entire Jewish nation relied upon. From a young age, he was renowned as a leading Torah scholar of his generation. From the age of 13 until 30, he resided in Brody, a thriving Torah center in those times, home to the celebrated Kloiz – Beit Midrash renowned for the study of all realms of Torah, and for the famous compositions on the Talmud, in Halachah and in Kabbalah which it produced. He served for about ten years as the rabbi of one of the four Batei Din in Brody. During his stay in Brody, he became close to the Kloiz scholars, including R. Chaim Sanzer and R. Gershon of Kitov (brother-in-law of the Baal Shem Tov). During those years, he studied the Arizal's writings together with R. Chaim Sanzer, a leading scholar in the Kloiz.
Ca. 1745, he went to serve as rabbi of Jampol, and in 1754, he began serving as rabbi of Prague and the region. In Prague, he led his community fearlessly, becoming a foremost leader of his generation. He established a large yeshiva there, in which he educated thousands of disciples, including many of the leaders of that generation (his disciple R. Elazar Fleckeles, author of Teshuva MeAhavah, eulogized him: "He edified several thousands of disciples, including hundreds of rabbis and dayanim"; Olat HaChodesh HaShlishi, 17, p. 85a). Thousands of questions were addressed to him from far-flung places. Approximately 850 of his responsa were published in Noda BiYehuda. His books published in his lifetime, Responsa Noda BiYehuda – Mahadura Kama, and Tzelach on Tractates Pesachim and Berachot, earned him worldwide fame already then (Noda BiYehuda – Mahadura Tinyana, printed after his passing, Prague 1811, includes hundreds of his responsa to questions about his first book, addressed to him from various places).
The Chida in Shem HaGedolim greatly praises the book Noda BiYehuda as well as its author, describing him as an exceptionally outstanding Torah scholar who disseminated much Torah through his books and disciples, and mentions the acuity and extensive Torah wisdom apparent in his responsa and books. The Noda BiYehuda himself wrote in a responsum regarding one of his novellae, that in his opinion it is a true Torah thought (Even HaEzer, Mahadura Tinyana, section 23, 2). The Chatam Sofer relates to this responsum in one of his responsa (Part II, Even HaEzer, section 95): "The words of G-d are in his mouth, truth".
The author of the book, R. Yonah Landsofer (1678-1712), was a leading rabbi in Prague in the generation preceding the Noda BiYehuda. Died at the young age of 34. This book of responsa was the first of his compositions to be published, after his death. Among the approbations at the beginning of the book is a long approbation by the Noda BiYehuda and his Beit Din. R. Yonah instructed in his will that his book should be printed anonymously, and indeed, his name does not appear on the title page or in the introduction. However, the Noda BiYehuda reveals the author's name in his approbation: "Although the author modestly concealed his name... he is clearly the great Torah scholar... the famous pious genius R. Yonah Landsofer...".
Responsum 27, to which the Noda BiYehuda added a gloss in this copy, is a well-known responsum of the Me'il Tzedakah, being the first to calculate the size of the gris used in the laws of niddah. This responsum features several sketches, including sketches demonstrating the size of the gris according to the calculations of the Me'il Tzedakah. The Me'il Tzedakah's measurement of a gris became accepted by most leading poskim. The Chatam Sofer wrote that after much effort and study, he found this measurement to be correct. The Noda BiYehuda also agreed with R. Landsofer, as his disciple wrote in his name in the book Teshuva MeAhavah (III, 365).
[6], 82 leaves. 26.5 cm. Wide margins. Good condition. Stains. Tears to endpapers and to several other leaves. Repaired tear to bottom of title page, not affecting text. Hole in the upper margin of all leaves, not affecting text. Stamps. New leather binding.
Wide-margined copy. Copy of R. Yechezkel Landau, author of Noda BiYehuda, with a gloss in his handwriting.
His name (in his handwriting?) appears within the title page illustration (in Hebrew and Latin characters): "Yechezkel Landau – Ezeckiel Landau". At the top of the title page is an ownership inscription in his son's handwriting: "Belongs to my father... R. Yechezkel HaLevi Landau, rabbi here in Prague". On the last leaf (p. 82a) is another inscription in a different handwriting: "Belongs to the great luminary, the famous R. Yechezkel Segal Landau, rabbi of Prague". Many more Hebrew and German inscriptions appear on the endpapers, attesting that the book belonged to R. Yechezkel Landau, Rabbi of Prague.
On p. 31a, a long neat gloss, handwritten by the Noda BiYehuda, relating to a passage in Responsum 27 on the topic of the size of the gris (see below). This gloss was presumably never printed.
R. Yechezkel HaLevi Segal Landau (1713-1793) was a leading Halachic authority of all times, whom the entire Jewish nation relied upon. From a young age, he was renowned as a leading Torah scholar of his generation. From the age of 13 until 30, he resided in Brody, a thriving Torah center in those times, home to the celebrated Kloiz – Beit Midrash renowned for the study of all realms of Torah, and for the famous compositions on the Talmud, in Halachah and in Kabbalah which it produced. He served for about ten years as the rabbi of one of the four Batei Din in Brody. During his stay in Brody, he became close to the Kloiz scholars, including R. Chaim Sanzer and R. Gershon of Kitov (brother-in-law of the Baal Shem Tov). During those years, he studied the Arizal's writings together with R. Chaim Sanzer, a leading scholar in the Kloiz.
Ca. 1745, he went to serve as rabbi of Jampol, and in 1754, he began serving as rabbi of Prague and the region. In Prague, he led his community fearlessly, becoming a foremost leader of his generation. He established a large yeshiva there, in which he educated thousands of disciples, including many of the leaders of that generation (his disciple R. Elazar Fleckeles, author of Teshuva MeAhavah, eulogized him: "He edified several thousands of disciples, including hundreds of rabbis and dayanim"; Olat HaChodesh HaShlishi, 17, p. 85a). Thousands of questions were addressed to him from far-flung places. Approximately 850 of his responsa were published in Noda BiYehuda. His books published in his lifetime, Responsa Noda BiYehuda – Mahadura Kama, and Tzelach on Tractates Pesachim and Berachot, earned him worldwide fame already then (Noda BiYehuda – Mahadura Tinyana, printed after his passing, Prague 1811, includes hundreds of his responsa to questions about his first book, addressed to him from various places).
The Chida in Shem HaGedolim greatly praises the book Noda BiYehuda as well as its author, describing him as an exceptionally outstanding Torah scholar who disseminated much Torah through his books and disciples, and mentions the acuity and extensive Torah wisdom apparent in his responsa and books. The Noda BiYehuda himself wrote in a responsum regarding one of his novellae, that in his opinion it is a true Torah thought (Even HaEzer, Mahadura Tinyana, section 23, 2). The Chatam Sofer relates to this responsum in one of his responsa (Part II, Even HaEzer, section 95): "The words of G-d are in his mouth, truth".
The author of the book, R. Yonah Landsofer (1678-1712), was a leading rabbi in Prague in the generation preceding the Noda BiYehuda. Died at the young age of 34. This book of responsa was the first of his compositions to be published, after his death. Among the approbations at the beginning of the book is a long approbation by the Noda BiYehuda and his Beit Din. R. Yonah instructed in his will that his book should be printed anonymously, and indeed, his name does not appear on the title page or in the introduction. However, the Noda BiYehuda reveals the author's name in his approbation: "Although the author modestly concealed his name... he is clearly the great Torah scholar... the famous pious genius R. Yonah Landsofer...".
Responsum 27, to which the Noda BiYehuda added a gloss in this copy, is a well-known responsum of the Me'il Tzedakah, being the first to calculate the size of the gris used in the laws of niddah. This responsum features several sketches, including sketches demonstrating the size of the gris according to the calculations of the Me'il Tzedakah. The Me'il Tzedakah's measurement of a gris became accepted by most leading poskim. The Chatam Sofer wrote that after much effort and study, he found this measurement to be correct. The Noda BiYehuda also agreed with R. Landsofer, as his disciple wrote in his name in the book Teshuva MeAhavah (III, 365).
[6], 82 leaves. 26.5 cm. Wide margins. Good condition. Stains. Tears to endpapers and to several other leaves. Repaired tear to bottom of title page, not affecting text. Hole in the upper margin of all leaves, not affecting text. Stamps. New leather binding.
Rabbis – Autographs
Rabbis – Autographs