Siddur Avodat HaLevi published in Kiryat Tosh, Canada, with Psalms, and Pitum HaKetoret on parchment, which belonged to the holy Rabbi Meshulim Feish Segal Lowy, the holy Admor of Tosh, with which he would pray, with his stamp and kvittelach.
Specifications: Siddur Avodat HaLevi , with the Admor of Tosh’s personal stamp on the first page of the siddur. His name “Meshulim Feish Segal Lowy” is stamped on the binding, as well as on the page attached to the binding, and the first and second pages have a number of reminders, handwritten “kvitellach.” Pitum HaKetoret [3 pages] on parchment is pasted into the siddur, and at its end there is a “bookmark” on parchment with kabbalistic Names, all in scribal script.
The Admor of Tosh, the holy gaon Rabbi Meshulim Feish Segal Lowy (1922-2015), son of the Admor Rabbi Mordechai of Demecser, grandson of Rabbi Meshulim Feish Lowy of Tosh (the first). He arrived in Montreal, Canada in 1951, and established Kiryat Beit HaLevi in 1963 for Tosh chassidut. He was renowned for his lengthy prayers and his conduct in service of G-d with great devotion. His Torah thoughts were printed in Avodat Avodah .
Condition: Usage marks and stains, isolated leaves are lacking, as well as the title page. Fine-very fine condition.
Rabbi Michel Yehudah Lefkowitz’s alarm clock, which he used for dozens of years to arise for prayer at sunrise. Placed in the original box, on which he signed “Lefkowitz.” Made by the Europa 2Jewls company, Germany.
Portable alarm clock in its original box. 8×8 cm.
Fine condition: The clock is in working order and rings. Wear in the box’s lining. Abrasions on the coating of the metal parts.
Avodat HaTamid . Prayer explanations by Rabbi Elisha Habilyu, with the prayer text. Leghorn 1794. Only edition. Rabbi Ezra Attiah’s copy [title page lacking].
Extensive explanation of prayer, with laws and halachahs, and kabbalistic matters. The prayer text is printed in vowelized letters at the top of the page, and under it the explanations and laws are printed in two different types of letters. With important approbations and a long introduction by the author in which he writes his life story and about the Jews of Leghorn. Handwritten owner’s notation page 63 and the last page by the gaon Rabbi Ezra Attiah ‘הצעיר עזרא עטייה’ [‘the youth, Ezra Attiah’], and an owner’s stamp – רבי אברהם עבוד – שמש הרשב”י.
Rabbi Ezra Attiah [1887-1970] was born in Allepo and immigrated to the Land of Israel with his parents in his youth. Since then, he was known for his unremitting diligence. He served as Rosh Yeshivah of Porat Yosef for 45 years.
[11] 268 leaves. Lacking title page. 18 cm. Fine condition.
References and sources for books of sermons, containing commentaries on essays in Talmudic aggadahs, according to the order in Ein Yaakov. By Rabbi Zechariah Por to. Venice, 1675. First edition, Bragadin press. Illustrated title page. The page following the title page bears the signature of Rabbi Yaakov Shaul Elyashar, the “Yisa Brachah.”
Rabbi Yaakov Shaul Elyashar (1817-1906), known as the “Yisa Brachah,” was born in Tzfat. He was orphaned in his childhood, and lived in Jerusalem. He was ordained a dayan in 1853, and in 1869 began serving as Av Beit Din of Jerusalem. Subsequent to Rabbi Panigel’s passing, he was appointed to the position of Rishon LeTziyon in 1893. He wrote numerous books whose titles contain his name’s initials, AY”Sh: Simchah LeI”sh (AY”Sh), Maaseh I”sh , Derech I”sh , Divrei I”sh , Olat I”sh , Shaal HaI”sh , Kavod LaI”sh , and Pnei I”sh . The Jerusalem neighborhood of Givat Shaul is named after him.
The author Rabbi Zechariah of Porto was one of Rome’s sages, but refused to serve in the rabbinate. He was wealthy and dispersed many of his assets to charity and assisting Jews’ return to the Land of Israel. The book was printed posthumously by the Rome community’s Talmud Torah organization. In the introduction they highly praise him, write of his humility, and provide a precise list enumerating amounts of charity he left in his estate. The book was later printed in several editions with the Ein Yaakov .
[4] 300 leaves, 20 cm. Title page torn at bottom, without damage to text. Wide margins [3 cm]. Corrugated paper, stains. Fine condition.
Siddur of the gaonim, mekubalim and chassidim. Third volume of prayer and blessing homilies – Shabbat: shacharit and mussaf – edited by Rabbi Moshe Yair Weinstock. Lengthy dedication on the flyleaf in the handwriting and with the signature of the hidden kabbalist Rabbi Yosef Woltoch, ztz”l
The tzaddik and kabbalist Rabbi Yosef Woltoch of Zlotshev – ‘The Street Sweeper.’ He lived in the Old City of Jerusalem in his youth, and each day he would secretly enter the renowned Beit-El yeshiva for kabbalists to learn from their ways. He slept little, and dealt very much with kabbalistic wisdom with wondrous and extensive expertise. He would prostrate himself on the graves of tzaddikim all around the country. He met and studied with hidden tzaddikim and soon became renowned as a salvation worker. He even knew how to remove “spirits” which were attached to people. He passed away during Iyar 1983.
Nine lines in his holy handwriting and with his signature. Very fine condition. Including confirmation that the book was purchased from the Tzidkat Yosef yeshiva’s library.
Two gemaras, tractates Nedarim and Baba Metziah, from which Rabbi Baruch Kunstadt studied and also wrote his many novellae on various topics. With leaves of novellae and many dozens of novellae on the sheets of the leaves.
Specifications: Tractate Baba Metziah published by “Shofar,” Mishkoltz, Hungary. Tractate Nedarim was published by Vaad HaHatzalah, New York, 1951.
Background: Rabbi Baruch Kunstadt [1885-1967] studied under Rabbi Simchah Bunim Sofer, author of Shevet Sofer , and his son, Rabbi Akiva Sofer. When he was 22 years old, he was appointed rabbi of Fulda, Germany, until Kristallnacht, after which he fled to the Land of Israel and settled in Jerusalem. He was one of the founders of the Kol Torah Yeshivah, and authored Anah Baruch and Ya’aneh Baruch .
Condition: Moderate.
Rina Shel Torah . Song of Songs with Rashi’s commentary and two more commentaries, Metiv Shir, and the Shaar Yisrael article by Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin [the Netziv]. Warsaw, 1866. First edition. Contains a dedication by the author’s son, Rabbi Chaim Berlin on the title page: ‘From me, the author’s son, Chaim Berlin of Volozhin.’
First edition of the Netziv’s commentary on Shir HaShirim, with the essay, Shaar Yisrael, on antisemitism from a Jewish viewpoint.
Rabbi Chaim Berlin [1832-1913], son of the Netzi”v, was among the illustrious rabbis of his generation. He served as Moscow’s rabbi, and rosh yeshiva of Volozhin for a short duration. Subsequently, he became Kobryń’s rabbi, until his immigration to Jerusalem in 1906. In Jerusalem, following the passing of Rabbi Shmuel Salant in 1909, he served as de facto chief rabbi of the Ashkenazi communities.
134 [1] pages, 21. Additional title page on the binding.
Detached title page, with tears in the margins and in the dedication. Detached front binding. Brown leaves. Moderate-fine condition.
Ta’amei HaMinhagim – Likutim , by Avraham Yitzchak Sperling, ritual slaughterer and checker. Lemberg 1907 – Rabbi Chaim Halberstam’s copy, grandson of the rabbi of Ratzfert. With 13 signatures in his holy hand, and his stamps. [The gaon signed his name numerous times on the protective leaf].
Rabbi Chaim Halberstam was a grandson of Rabbi Shalom Eliezer Halberstam of Ratzfert, paternal grandson of Rabbi Meshulam Zusha, son-in-law of Rabbi Naftali Teitelbaum of Nirvator. His grandfather, the holy Admor Rabbi Shalom Eliezer Halberstam (1862-1944) was one of the younger sons of the Admor, the author of Divrei Chaim of Sanz. In 1899 he arrived in Ratzfert and established his court there. Known as a wonder worker, many Jews flocked to his home in Ratzfert from all over Hungary and were saved by his blessings. Rabbi Chaim Halberstam was killed in the Holocaust with most of his family, may Hash-m avenge their blood.
[4], 55 leaves. Apparently missing last leaf.
Stains. Minimal tears and reinforcements. Not bound. Moderate condition.
Collection of [5] flyleaves, each with the stamp of the holy Rabbi Avraham Shalom Halberstam, the first Admor of Stropkov, the small one, Shalom Halberstam, son of the his father, the righteous rabbi of Shinova, ztz”l.
[5] leaves, paper. The leaves are individual. Various sizes. Each leaf has the Admor of Stropkov’s stamp. One leaf has an additional stamp of his from when he resided in Kashoi. One of the leaves also has a gloss handwritten by his grandson, the Admor of Stropkov, ztz”l. Some of the leaves have unidentified notations and signatures.
Rabbi Avraham Shalom Halberstam of Stropkov [1857-1940] was the son of the holy rabbi Yechezkel Shraga Halberstam of Shinova and grandson of Rabbi Chaim of Sanz.
Condition: Some of the leaves have worming damage. Overall fine condition, one leaf is in moderate-fine condition with lack in the margins.
[3] pages from the end of the shacharit prayer, with the stamp of the martyred holy Yanuka, Rabbi Yosef Yom Tov Halberstam.
Specifications: [3] leaves, from the leaves of the siddur.
The holy Yanuka, Rabbi Yosef Yom Tov Halberstam, may Hash-m avenge his blood, was Rabbi Avraham Shalom Halberstam of Stropkov’s youngest son. He was born in his father’s old age, and after his father’s passing, he succeeded him in Kashoi [his older brother, R’ Mendele, succeeded his father in Stropkov]. When he was only seven years old, he was honored with the position of sandak and would speak words of Torah at the circumcision meals, and he would also take kvittelach from his holy father’s chassidim. He was martyred by the Nazis in Auschwitz at 11 years old on 11 Tishrei 1944.
Fine condition.
Flyleaf from a book with his holy signature and with the stamp of the holy Rabbi Avraham Shalom Halberstam, the first Admor of Stropkov, son of the holy Rabbi Yechezkel Shraga Halberstam of Shinova, and grandson of Rabbi Chaim Halberstam of Sanz. Under his signature, there is another signature, “The small one, Chaim Halberstam.”
Specifications: [1] flyleaf, torn from a book. With Rabbi Avraham Shalom Halberstam’s signature and stamp, with additional signatures including “The small one, Chaim Halberstam.”
This could be the handwriting of his grandfather, Rabbi Chaim Halberstam, the Divrei Chaim of Sanz, given that this leaf was originally attached to a book stamped with the seal of Rabbi Chaim Halberstam’s son, Rabbi Yechezkel Shraga Halberstam of Shinova, and, as stated, there are also his grandson Rabbi Avraham Shalom Halberstam of Stropkov’s signature and stamp, and the year of the book’s printing also fits the years Rabbi Chaim Halberstam lived [a photocopy of the book’s title page with the holy rabbi of Shinova’s stamp on it will be provided to anyone who asks]. On the other hand, Rabbi Avraham Shalom Halberstam of Stropkov had a grandson [his son Rabbi Mendele’s son] whose name was Chaim Halberstam, to be left for the reader’s discretion.
Rabbi Avraham Shalom of Stropkov [1857-1940] the first Admor of Stropkov and son of the holy rabbi of Shinova, was a great wonder-worker, and thousands of people from all over Hungary and Galicia streamed to him for salvation, for words of salvation and mercy and mainly for the childless to be blessed with children, and what his holy father said about him in renowned, “I took his mother for the sake of Heaven, and it says in Tanna D’vei Eliyahu that he who marries for Heaven’s sake will have children who save the Jewish people.” He was a wondrous person in all his ways, and all the leaders of his generation called him “Most Sacred.”
Condition: Some worming holes. Fine condition.
