Kochbuch für Israelitische Frauen by [Heinemann] Wolf Rebekka, Frankfurt am Main, 1901.
Cookbook for Jewish women, by Rebekka Wolf. Includes many weekday, Shabbat and holiday menus, and also for Passover. Various necessary tips, and a “medicine cabinet” for the maintenance of the Jewish home. Leaves of advertisements for Jewish books and foods are added at the beginning and the end.
XVII, 291, 6 pages.
Original binding with impressed book title and embedded drawing of Jewish foods. Slight tears on the seam between the spine and the binding. A few stains.
Fine condition.
Why war? Correspondence between Einstein and Freud. “Eretz” press, Tel Aviv, 1935, without name of publisher.
This is the first time that the letters were published in Hebrew. They were written in 1932 and were sent between Potsdam and Vienna and discuss the question of whether there is a way to save humanity from war, a country’s ability to influence the decisions of its citizens, the power of the majority vs. the minority, and if there is a way to nullify a person’s aggressive instincts.
16 pages. 22 cm. Stains. Fine condition.
ספר הפלוידערזאק או מאורת צפעונים, גאזעטא [עתון] כללית בעד כל העולם… נדפס אצל הגיזעטניק הכולל בבאלטונאווקא. [By Ephraim Dinard]. [New York, 1890].
Humorous, satirical work built as a compilation of Jewish press articles in the United States by Ephraim Dinard (published anonymously). Accompanied by six caricatures. Rare.
Ephraim Dinard – (1846-1930) – historian, polemicist, among the greatest bibliographers in the new era; Dinard was considered an author who was a provocateur writing unbiased and uninhibited against personalities whose opinions were generally considered authoritative. He immigrated to the United States from Russia in the 1890s.
100 pages, [6] caricature-plates. 15.5 cm. Detached leaves. Moderate-fine condition.
Fifty sequential calendars printed in Vilna-Grodno, between 1810-1860 at “Defus HaShutafim” [the partners’ press] and then Romm press.
Specifications: Most measure 10×18.5 cm. The others are smaller.
Content: The format and topics of the calendars changed over the years, but its border was preserved.
Unique features: This unique collection includes fifty years of calendars printed by the same press, bound together originally. It is apparently very unique among collections of calendars extant in the world.
Condition: Fine. All the calendars are bound together originally, however, the binding has fallen into disrepair over the years , and only traces of the spine remain. Tears in solitary leave s. Aging stains.
Two booklets with basic regulations of the ‘Freemason’ movement, both with handwritten comments and corrections by Shmuel HaShimshoni – one of the movement’s founders in the Land of Israel, 1930s.
* Pattern Set of Bye-Laws
Booklet printed in Edinburgh [Scotland] at the end of the 1930s. Shimshoni’s name is handwritten in English on the book’s title page, with corrections, erasures and comments in the body of the book in English, in HaShimshoni’s handwriting.
* Bye-Laws
Booklet with regulations of the foundations of the freemasons – in Egypt and Palestine. English. Handwritten notations and glosses. End of the 1930s. [1] 16 pages. 14 cm.
Shmuel HaShimshoni (1879-1939), born in Rumania to his father Dov Samsonoff, among the “enlightened” Jews of Rumania. In 1896, he immigrated to Israel and was among the founders of the first Jewish commune. He went to Egypt due to illness, and was active in the Cairo Jewish community and among the founders of the first French weekly Zionist periodical. While he was still in Edinburgh, he served as an honorary member of the high commission of the Freemasons, and when he came to Israel, he was active in establishing the basic principles of the movement in the Land of Israel. He was killed by a bullet in Haifa on his way to work. Refer to extensive coverage of his work in Encyclopedia of Pioneers and Builders of the Yishuv .
Both booklets are rare, and do not appear in the National Library. Fine condition.
A magnificent book of regulations of the Ashkenazi congregation in Amsterdam which was used by one of the community’s charity collectors. Contains ten printed publications, beginning with the community’s first detailed book of regulations, with booklets of other regulations and changes made to the regulations. First half of the 18th century.
Specifications: Contains (as appears in the book):
* Community regulations of the holy Ashkenazi congregation in Amsterdam. Amsterdam, in the Attias printing press, 1737. [4] 2-33 leaves, 15.5 cm. Yiddish in Tzeina Ure’eina script. Contains 102 clauses, with indexes. On pages 26, 2-27 are the names of 21 important members of the community who authorize the regulations. The regulations are also authorized by the secular authorities. To the best of our knowledge, before us are the first regulations of the Ashkenazi congregation in Amsterdam. Does not appear in the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book.
* The order of the Synagogue according to all customs… Amsterdam, in the Proops printing press, 1759.
9[1] leaves, 15.5 cm. Especially thick paper. Part of the title page was printed in red ink. Contains 54 regulations, with indexes. Listed in the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book according to a copy in the municipal library of New York.
* Ordinatatzia Fun Eli Shtarot V’Ktavim 1708, a folded leaf.
* Regulations for Festive Meals, 1709. For restriction of the expenses of weddings and feasts. A folded leaf.
* Regulations for Festive Meals, 1717. For restriction of the expenses of weddings and feasts. A folded leaf.
* Regulations for Festive Meals, 1722. For restriction of the expenses of weddings and feasts. A folded leaf.
* Ordinatatzia Fun Eli Shtarot V’Ktavim 1731, a folded leaf.
* Ampliatzia on the manner of choosing the Parnasim and Gabbaim. 1737. A single leaf.
* Ampliatzia on the regulations of our community… 1747. Amsterdam in the Proops printing press, 1759. 4 leaves, 15.5 cm. Especially thick paper.
* Ampliatzia Oif Tikkun 43 Mitikkunei Kehilateinu… (Regulations about burial). Amsterdam, in the Proops printing press, 1758. [2] leaves. 15.5 cm. Thick paper.
Unique Features: The Ashkenazi congregation in Amsterdam was known as an especially orderly and organized congregation. The book of regulations contains 102 detailed regulations. The last regulation [102] contains details of how exactly the regulations can be changed, and indeed, in the changes which appear in the booklets printed after it is mentioned that they were made according to the method established in regulation 102. The regulation booklets were printed for the use of the members of the congregation, and they were printed in a small number of copies, and are therefore rare. Especially uncommon are the single leaves, which contain many regulations. Original leather binding with magnificent gold embossing. With the name of the ‘Charity Collector Reb Yuspa Cohen’. In the center of the front binding is the symbol of the Ashkenazi congregation of Amsterdam, with the depiction of two angels bearing a crown above it. On the back of the binding is the symbol of the Proops the printer, with figures of angels and the crown above it. Blank leaves at the beginning and end of the volume. Gilded page cuts.
Condition: The book’s leaves are in very fine condition with slight aging stains. The binding was preserved in the same condition, with the exception of a crack along the entire length of the spine.
The Tale of Little Rabbi Gadiel by Shai Agnon. Marcus and Partners Press, Berlin [1925].
Story by Shai Agnon. Printed in an especially small format, on thick paper, in a limited edition of 500 copies, as “a gift the the members of the Soncino Group, in honor of its first annual convention, on the first of Sivan, 1925, at the press of Marcus and Partners, in Berlin.”
[16] pages, 11 cm. Remains of pasted paper on the binding. Fine condition.
Minchat Chinuch, three parts. An extensive commentary on the Sefer HaChinuch by Rabbi [Yosef Babad]. Lemberg, [1869]. First edition.
Specifications: [1] 116: [1], 148 leaves; [2], 105, 4, [3] leaves, 35 cm. A special title page for each part. Includes the ‘Minchat Ani’ leaves at the end of the book.
Unique Features: The first edition of the well known scholarly book. The book was published anonymously, and as written on the title page: “Written by one of the great and definitive scholars of our times, the holy and pure one, and due to our many sins he concealed his name…” His name appears only in the second edition, which was printed in Lemberg in 1889, some 15 years after the author’s death. This first edition is rare.
Background: The author, Rabbi Yosef Babad, was the Rabbi of Ternopil. The book Minchat Chinuch is one of the basic books for those engaged in in-depth Torah study, throughout the Jewish world, to this very day. It has been printed in dozens of editions over the years, and various commentaries were written on it.
Condition: Fine-very fine. Small stickers on the first title page. On page 28 of the first part are tears stuck together with no lack. A few stains. Simple binding with no spine.
V’Haya HaAkov L’Mishor by Shai Agnon. Pictures by Yosef Budka. Published by Judischer Verlag, Berlin, printed in Leipzig, 1919.
93, [1] page. 18 cm.
Original binding with gilt imprint, slight lacks in the imprint. Lacking spine. Except for this, fine condition.
Sefer HaZikaron V’Hakabbalah, Sod Hashem, in manuscript form, by Rabbi David di Lida, Av Beit Din of Amsterdam, followed by documentation of approximately 130 children in whose circumcision he participated, as mohel or sandak, 1824-1834.
Specifications: [24] leaves, paper. Of which: [12] leaves of Seder Ha Brit and [5] leaves with the list of circumcisions.
Unique Features: Orderly and pleasant handwriting, including verses, prayers and blessings recited during a circumcision ceremony. Also, a complete diary of activities of a mohel from Rawicz, Ben Zvi Hirsch Segal of Nowe Miasto, who was active between the years 1824-1834.
Condition: Fine. Aging stains. Cardboard binding in a matching box.
Psalms with the “Tehillot HaTorah” compilation – the personal copy used by Rabbi Michel Yehudah Lefkowitz, signed twice in his holy hand. The title page bears his complete signature: מיכל יהודה ליפקוביץ, and the binding bears the word ליפקוביץ in his hand .
The page after the title page bears a personal inscription to Rabbi Michel Yehudah Lefkowitz from a “grand Torah scholar” (as he is termed by Rabbi Yitzchak Zilberstein in the approbation he gave to the compilation), the author of the Tehillot HaTorah compilation that is included with this Psalms: “This gift is sent to his honor our rabbi and teacher, shlit”a, if he would please put his pure eyes on this compilation, and if there are comments I will be happy to lovingly accept.” This lot includes a letter from Rabbi Lefkowitz’ sons confirming that their father used this Psalms.
Refer to the previous item for more information regarding Rabbi Michel Yehudah Lefkowitz.
Specifications: [2] 129, 56 leaves. 16 cm.
Condition: Stains on the binding, tear on the bottom of the spine, detached leaves, usage marks. Moderate-fine condition.
Le Cantique de Salomon, enluminé par Ze’ev Raban, Shir HaShirim painted by Ze’ev Raban, “Bezalel,” Jerusalem. Published by “Shir HaShirim,” Jerusalem, 1930.
The book contains 26 color photo plates which are pasted onto its pages, located on the right side of the book when opened (printed from left to right). Partial texts from the scroll are in the paintings’ margins, with a French translation on the left. Printed dedication from Ze’ev Raban to Prof. Boris Schatz, founder and director of the Bezalel School of Art. Dedication from 1946 on the flyleaf.
[31] leaves, 33.5 cm.
Bound in the original handsome leather binding with leaf and flower decorations. The cover sports a metal repousse of the Queen of Sheba. Fine condition.
Passover Haggada, non-traditional text – kibbutz-style. [c. 1950?]. Unknown haggada.
Specifications: [32] pages. Jacket title page, 16×21.5 cm. Printed by stencil. Hebrew and Dutch. The Haggada opens from left to right. Most of the haggada is in Dutch. Paragraphs in Hebrew from the traditional Haggada text, with modifications, along with many Dutch paragraphs. Many illustrations. Original jacket with print on both its sides, stapled. The haggada was printed on paper of various colors.
Unique features: The Haggada opens with the traditional verse “HaChodesh hazeh lachem…” with the inclusion of “Hayom hayitem l’am” [today you became a nation], followed by the traditional “Ha Lachma Anya” with the text “Hashta anachnu geulei Yisrael” [we are now redeemed in Israel]… The Dutch section includes poems by H.N. Bialik and Nathan Alterman. Page [24] features a “Yizkor” in memory of those killed in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, those that fell protecting the borders of Israel, those murdered in ambush, or those who fell in the enemy’s prison or in captivity. “The Jewish Nation should remember all those that fell in the battles for its redemption and in their death commanded us to live!” Page [27] mentions kibbutzim.
Condition: Very fine, other than the back jacket which is detached and has two small holes.
Prayers for the entire year per the Karaite customs. Kale, [1735]. Rare work. Magnificent copy.
Specifications: Section two: 168 leaves. Section three: 56 leaves. 22 cm. Thick paper. Ginzei Yisrael 1839.
Content: The second section of Passover and Shavuot, including Hallel HaGadol, Prayers for Passover (including the interim days and the 7th day of Passover), Song of Songs, Perakim L’Sheva Shabbatot, Prayers for Shavuot, “Melitzat HaMitzvot” (authored by the son of Eliyahu Bašyazi to be recited on the day of Mattan Torah) and the Scroll of Ruth. The third section includes the prayers for the fasts of the 9th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av and the Shabbatot between them, with colophon, dated with the [Hebrew] chronogram “Et HaMelacha” and the names of those that arranged it. These two sections were printed without a title page.
Unique features: Rare work. There are a number of known variants that were apparently compiled from other editions. These are the complete sections, as listed above. The third section is bound before the second. Magnificent copy with deluxe leather binding and endpaper. Gold embossing on the bindng: אליהו בן יוסף גיגית and decorations.
Condition: Very fine.
Large impressive collection of works from the treasuries of Jewish music, all handwritten, apparently starting at the end of the 19th century. Primarily from Western Europe.
Specifications: About [30] booklets, anthologies of works and leaves of music notes, for the prayer leader [Sha”tz], choir, musicians and students, with music notes – primarily for holy songs.
Highlights of the collection include these unique items: * Book for writing music notes with hundreds of musical works for prayer melodies, written in a clear hand, with carefully written titles at the top of each melody. The author inscribed the book: “From me, your friend, who wrote for him … for an eternal memory … so that when you open this ledger to sing … my idea is that my manuscript should serve that our love will never be erased, its name and memory should be forever. David Yehudael Basgradnotzki of Badetz [דוד יהודהל בשגראדנוצקי [?] מק”ק באדעץ].” * Music notebook with dozens of melodies for Rosh HaShana, the festivals, and more.
* Music notebook with notes for the songs: Shoshanat Yaakov, V’Shamru, Mi SheBeirach, Naritzicha, U’Mipnei Chateinu, U’V’Chen. * Music notebook, starting with the melody for “Tavo Lifanecha Tifilateinu” and ending with “Adon Olam.” * Music notes for synagogue melodies. * Music notes for high holiday and Shabbat prayers: Rosh HaShana – Maariv; Mussaf-Kaddish; Kiddush; Maariv for Shabbat and more. * Old music notebook with many handwritten melodies, including melodies for “Lo amut,” “mah ashiv – Weintraub,” “V’Shamru.”
Unique features: The works included in this collection present an unmediated picture of the state of Jewish music, primarily in Western Europe during the first half of the 20th century. The collection includes works by many cantors and composers, including: Herman Tzvi; Aharon Friedman; S. Zinger; S. Naumburg; Y. Blumenthal, famed Vilna cantor and composer Avraham Moshe Bernstein; M. Goldstein; M. Debarsan; Dushnitsky from Lodz; A. Garshowitz; Herman Reich; S. Rozovsky. The collection includes many one-of-a-kind works that were handwritten, and includes large collections that were written in clear, artistic hands. We are confident that careful analysis of these manuscripts will reveal special, unique works.
Condition: Various conditions, moderate-very fine.
HeChalutzim – by Meir Gur Aryeh – silhouette cuts accompanied by pioneer songs collected by M. Narkiss, published by Bnei Bezalel Jerusalem.
Printed dedication by the author to Prof. Boris Shatz on the page following the title page: ‘To my teacher, first pioneer of Hebrew craft in the Land of Israel, Prof. Boris Shatz.’
Original binding with gilt embossing of pioneers in a tent and gilt inscription with impressed artist’s signature. The silhouette cuts are all protected by tissue paper.
Fine-very fine condition.
Large, impressive collection of works from the treasuries of Jewish music, written and printed, from the 19th century – in Germany, England, Poland, the United States, Russia, the Land of Israel and more. Assorted languages.
Specifications: About [95] books, booklets, anthologies and music leaves for the cantor, choir, musicians and students. Some of the works are very rare and not cataloged by the National Library. This large collection includes some sub-collections of secular and holy songs, for the home, school and synagogue: collections of works by cantors and composers, Herman Tzvi, Shmuel Alman and Yoel Engel, collections of folk songs and more.
Unique features: The works included in this collection present a direct picture of Jewish musical creation in the last centuries: its quality, content and distribution; the activities of the music publishers in Jewish centers in the Diaspora and the popular activities of Jewish cantors, musicians and cantors throughout the years, in assorted countries.
Condition: Various conditions, moderate-excellent.
* File with original architectural drawings of the GR”A synagogue in Shaarei Chessed neighborhood in Jerusalem. Eight sketches in various sizes of the interior and exterior of the GR”A synagogue’s two floors. The drawings before us were planned in 1935 [dated in the accompanying documents] with the second-floor addition to the synagogue. There are sketches of various angles of the facade of the building, and the various entrances in the area of the synagogue. On some of the sketches, there are handwritten inscriptions and comments. There are additional documents pertaining to the permits for building the synagogue, an account-booklet for the neighborhood for the years 1933-4, [Salomon Press] with tables of income and expenses, and more in the file. Drawings in various sizes: 46×34 cm. and 40×33 cm. and 46x25cm.
* Printed leaflet ‘Ballot for elections of the gabbaim for the the Beit Midrash HaGadol HaGR”A in the Shaarei Chessed neighborhood, Kislev 1944. The leaflet lists names for the GR”A synagogue members to choose from to serve as gabbaim and council members for the synagogue. The synagogue members were to choose seven names from the list to serve in their roles for two years. The names include some of the glorious figures of old Shaarei Chessed, including Rabbi David Baharan, Rabbi Aryeh Leib Ruchamkin, Rabbi Charlap, Rabbi Avraham David Rosenthal, Rabbi Uri Shraga Auerbach, Rabbi Yonah Mertzbach, Rabbi Yaakov Salant and additional rabbis. 34×22 cm. Tear in the top and bottom with slight damage to text.
The GR”A synagogue in the Shaarei Chessed neighborhood of Jerusalem was established in the second decade of the 20th century by the Jerusalem kabbalist Rabbi Ephraim Shmuel Paperman. He solicited donations from the Prushim (who followed the customs of the Vilna Gaon) residents of the neighborhood for the purpose of the synagogue’s construction. At the beginning of its construction, it was one floor. In the 30s, a second floor was added [according to the plans before us].
Siddur Shaar HaShamayim . Prayer book with a nice commentary, beautified with many adornments … R’ Yeshaya ben … R’ Avraham HaLevi ztz”l of the Horowitz family … from the beginning through the end of the year. With Tikkun Shabbat and the Peirush HaMishnayot, Hoshanot, Maaravot with commentary and the Passover Haggadah, and perakim and yotzrot and selichot, Shir haYichud with commentary, Psalms with commentaries and compiled traditions … Maamadot and Perek Shira. Amsterdam, [1717]. First edition of the Siddur HaShl”a.
Detailed Specifications: Incomplete copy. The prayer book starts on leaf 10 with “hanhagot haboker.” Missing the illustrated title page, the following title page and through leaf 9. Leaf 10 is blemished. Leaves 14 -31 are blemished. Leaf 51 is missing. Leaf 64 is blemished. Leaf 88 is blemished. Leaves 118-119 are blemished. Leaves 121-124 are blemished. Missing leaves 197-230 (from the Shabbat prayers). In the second pagination: leaf 118 is blemished (with the “Zulat” recited between Passover and Shavuot). Psalms has a separate title page as does the Seder Maamadot.
Background: This is the first edition of the Siddur HaShl”a with kabbalistic intentions, printed per the author’s request after much effort over dozens of years. This is the most detailed and elucidated prayer book printed until then.
Unique features: The Shl”a wrote about writing and printing this prayer book in his will. He wrote that he finished writing it in Jerusalem in 1622, on Friday Parshat VaYeitzei. For this and other reasons he chose to call the siddur Shaar HaShamayim. He wanted to print the prayer book so that he could earn merits from all of the prayers recited by his brethren. The prayer book received enthusiastic approbations from prominent Torah leaders of his generation. Rabbi Yoel Sirkis, the “Bach”, wrote: “We have no doubts that when this spreads among the Jews, that everyone who prays from it, their prayers will not return unanswered.” Kabbalist Rabbi Naftali Katz wrote about the siddur and its author, “I have great yearnings for this prayer book, and it was decreed that his children should print it … and it is a promise from him … if they turn to the One who hears the prayers with this prayer book, with all their energy and intent … they will not be returned empty handed.” Prominent righteous people desired to prayer from this prayer book.
Especially in-demand siddur, there are almost no complete extant copies with Psalms and Maamadot.
Condition: Other than the leaves detailed above, the rest of the leaves of the book are in fine condition. Complete, worn antiquated leather binding.
Early diagram of the construction of the Zichron Meir neighborhood, named after Rabbi Meir Shapiro of Lublin in Bnei Brak, 1930s.
Official diagram of the ‘Paz Brothers General Technical Office,’ captioned “Zichron Meir in Memory of Rabbi Meir Shapiro of Lublin.” Land plots are indicated on the diagram [some marked “sold”], as well as the various entrances to the neighborhood, and the parallel streets. Map of the neighborhood’s location relative to the nearby cities of Tel Aviv and Petch Tikvah on the upper right. Printed diagram with handwritten additions. The name ‘Halperin’ is handwritten on the bottom part of the map. Rabbi Yaakov Halperin was the neighborhood’s founder.
Zichron Meir was the second neighborhood established in Bnei Brak after Givat Rokeach, which was the first. In 1933, the first stage of the neighborhood was established, including three buildings. In Cheshvan 1933, Rabbi Meir Shapiro, rosh yeshiva of Chachmei Lublin passed away. Following his passing, Rabbi Yaakov Halperin, founder of the neighborhood, decided to name the neighborhood after him. For many years, Zichron Meir was the only neighborhood in Bnei Brak whose entrance was closed to traffic on Shabbat. In the 1940s, the neighborhood served as a hiding place for many of the heads of the Irgun and Lehi. During those years, Yaakov Halperin, the neighborhood’s founder, donated a large area in the center of the neighborhood to Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, on which the Ponovezh yeshiva was built. In 1947, Halperin invited Rabbi Shmuel HaLevi Wosner, a student of Rabbi Meir Shapiro of Lublin, to establish Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin, and after consultation with the Chazon Ish, the Chazon Ish recommended appointing him rabbi of the Zichron Meir neighborhood. The Chazon Ish’s home was on the outskirts of the neighborhood.
Size: 74×50 cm. Slight tears in the margins [pasted in the back]. Fine condition.
Two original official architectural drawings of the plans for the Twin Towers – The World Trade Center in New York, 1967.
* Plan no. 171 of the 109th floor plan from 31/7/1967. Black ink. 63×46 cm. Printed drawing.
* Plan no. 135 of the 77th floor plan from 31/7/1967. Blue ink. 63×46 cm. Printed drawing.
There is a legend on the upper right, and the names of the companies that participated in the project on the lower left: Minoru Yamasaki & Associates, Emery Roth & Sons, Jaros Baum & Bolles, Helle & Jackson. Both drawings have certificates of authenticity attached.
There are total of 273 known drawings of the Twin Towers which served the architects during the various stages of construction at the end of the 1960s and beginning of the 1970s. Most of the drawings were archived by the office as the buildings were completed. It is known that there were additional copies of these drawings which were stored in the buildings’ basements, but they were completely destroyed during the September 11th attacks. The offices of Yamasaki, who planned the buildings, testify that the final plans in their possession were discarded in 2003. The only drawings left were archived in Michigan after the Yamasaki company closed its offices in 2010, and in fact, these are the only original plans known remaining. In recent years, it was publicized that one of the drawings was found in Venezuela, but exactly where is not clear.
The source of the drawings before us is a man who received the plans directly from the Yamasaki offices – who had considered holding on to them an unnecessary burden and threw a huge archive of historical documents dealing with the original plans of the buildings into the garbage. After a while, the company became aware of the magnitude of their mistake in that they did not attach sufficient importance to the documents, and a legal battle was fought with the present owner over the course of years. The court has finally authorized the present holder as sole and undisputed owner of the collection. This is the only collection of its kind left in the world, and two of its drawings are offered for sale here, with a certificate of authenticity for each drawing.
The Twin Towers were planned by the American architect Minoru Yamasaki who wanted to express a Gothic tribute in their design. The shape of the buildings was designated to recall two bell towers of a cathedral, as well as the bold vertical lines and the top of the structure being reminiscent of a cathedral’s arches. The two skyscrapers, comprising 110 stories, rose up 417 meters (North Tower) and 415 meters (South Tower). “Tower no. 1,” with construction ending in 1972, was, in its time, the tallest tower in the world. Each one of the pair of buildings was built on an area of 4000 square meters and each building had a total of 350,000 square meters built, out of over a million square meters in the entire World Trade Center. The buildings were among the most prominent symbols of New York City and also represented the economic strength of the United States as a whole. Many multi-national companies were housed in the towers.
In the well-known suicide attacks on September 11th 2001, the two buildings collapsed after a pair of airplanes piloted by Islamic terrorists from Al- Qaida, headed by Osama bin Laden, crashed into the buildings. Although the skeletons of the buildings were initially planned to withstand any kind of attack, including aircraft, the planners did not consider aircraft loaded with thousands of tons of fuel, which eventually caused the conflagration that melted the steel skeleton of the building – causing the collapse of both buildings within two hours. The World Trade Center tragedy, which took 2977 lives, is considered the largest attack which has happened on American soil since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1941, and is also considered the largest and most devastating terrorist attack in history.
In 2014, the new World Trade Center, rising up 541.3 meters, was inaugurated in Manhattan. It is the tallest building in New York in place of the Empire State Building, and the tallest in the United States in place of the Sears Tower.
With the exception of a slight tear in drawing number 171 on the upper right, without damage to text, the condition of both drawings is very fine.
Passover Haggadah with Marathi translation. Illustrations. Pune, 1874. Rare haggadah.
Specifications: 2, [9] leaves, [1], 5-50, 44-5, 5 pages. Yaari 1077; Otzar Haggadot 1437.
Content: The Haggadah follows the customs of the “Benei Israel” in India. The title page is in Marathi, except for the title of the book. The Marathi translation is on facing pages with parallel pagination. The first leaves feature large illustrations of Moshe and Aharon, baking matzot, and the “simanim” of the seder per the customs of the Benei Israel in India.
Unique Features: Especially rare haggadah. Refer to A. Yaari, HaDefus HaIvri B’Pune , p. 83-84, with a photo of the title page (within HaDefus HaIvri B’Artzot HaMizrach , section two). Interesting Detail: The laws regarding “hag’alat keilim” include a special blessing that is unknown and not mentioned by halachic authorities.
Condition: Moderate-fine. The haggadah was professionally restored – primarily with paper mounted to complete the blank margins. Minimal worming marks. New, half-parchment binding.
Levush Malchut , including Levush HaTechelet and Levush HaChor , compilations by Rabbi Mordechai Yoffe Baal HaLevushim on Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim. Lublin, 1590-1589. First edition. Copy with lack. Glosses and notations in ancient handwriting.
Specifications: Levush HaTechelet: Begins on page 6, lacking a few leaves in the middle. Lacking the last leaves. Levush HaChor : The last leaves of the book’s body are lacking, and there are no unnumbered leaves at the end. 28 cm. Some of the compilations were not bound in their place.
Unique features: Exceptionally rare book. The National Library does not contain a complete copy. To the best of our knowledge, this complete book has never been sold at auction. The first edition of the renowned book was printed by the author in his lifetime. This work is one of the cornerstones of halachic rulings to this day. The book contains hundreds of glosses and notations in two different sources of handwriting from the period of printing, mainly in Hilchot Shabbat.
Condition: Moderate-poor. Tears with missing text, mainly in the first 25 leaves. Stains and a few worming holes. Not bound.
“The Revenge of the Jew.” Novel in Ladino regarding a blood libel in Toulouse, by Yisrael Jacques Luria. Constantinople, איפרימיריאה דיל ד’ורנאל טיליגארפ [Ephemeraia Dil Journal Telegraph?]. 1881.
Specifications: [2] leaves, 47 pages. About 19 cm.
Background: The author wrote in Ladino. He was born in 1860 in Constantinople and moved to Argentina in the 1930s. He passed away in Buenos Aires in 1946. This is apparently the first work that he wrote.
Unique features: Especially rare work. It is not listed in Yaari’s bibliographies of Ladino works or those printed in Constantinople. It is not in the National Library and, to the best of our knowledge, not in any large public library worldwide. The book is listed in the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book according to a reference in M. Franco’s Essai Sur L’Histoire Des Israelites De L’Empire Ottoman , Paris 1897, p. 274 – though they note that they did not see the work. The Bibliography also notes that the book was mentioned in an ad in the “איל טיליגארפיו” newspaper on the 10th of Adar, [1892], without the author’s name. That is why they apparently assumed that the book was printed by the newspaper’s press, as is indeed mentioned on this title page. This may be the only extant copy in the world.
Condition: Fine – very fine. Aging stains. Original binding.
