Auction No. 102
Holy books, Chassidut, Manuscripts, Rabbinical & Admors' letters, Eretz Yisrael & Zionism, Americana, Judiaca & Prof. Albert Einstein
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Novellae of the Chatam Sofer on Sanhedrin 12b, in his handwriting.
Specifications: [1] large leaf, 27x23 cm. About 90 lines written on both sides. Autograph.
Unique features: These novellae on Sanhedrin 12b were printed in Chiddushei HaChatam Sofer al Masechet Sanhedrin. The text of the manuscript that appears in the printed version is included with the lot. The manuscript has a number of words that the Chatam Sofer chose to erase, which enables the reader to get a glimpse into the manner in which he wrote and studied this topic. An added note that the ideas in the manuscript were copied on the 12th of Menachem Av, 04.08.1914, at the start of the First World War, is at the end of the manuscript.
Background: The Chatam Sofer recorded his lectures and novellae on topics and halachic responsa in an organized fashion. In one of his well-publicized letters, he notes, "I write the book with ink, all that Hashem has given me, both in halacha and aggada, and they are open to anyone who wishes to copy them, this is how our predecessors acted before the advent of printing."
Especially unique was the fact that the Chatam Sofer wrote his novellae on complete topics in an organized fashion. His progeny and students guarded his manuscripts as a segula for fear of G-d and Divine salvations, out of their love for his Torah thoughts.
Condition: Fine. Fold marks, aging stains, large ink stain, 2x4 cm. In a customized half-leather binding.
* Talmud Yerushalmi, Tractate Shekalim with the commentary of Rabbi Eliyahu of Fulda and the Avodat Gershoni commentary authored by Rabbi Gershon. Ashkenaz [end of the 18th century], autograph, not printed.
Specifications: 85 leaves, 32 cm. Uniquely attractive and organized manuscript. The text of the Talmud Yerushalmi is copied in print at the center of the leaf. It is surrounded by the commentaries of Rabbi Eliyahu of Fulda and the Avodat HaGershoni by Rabbi Gershon in Rashi letters.
* Tractate Semachot with the Tiferet HaGershoni commenatry and the Levush Ha'argaman, by Rabbi Gershon. Ashkenazic handwriting. End of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century.
Specifications: 33 leaves, 32 cm. Especially, pretty organized manuscript. The text of the tractate appears at center of the leaf in block letters, surrounded by the two commentaries in Rashi letters.
Unique features: A paper pocket has been taped to the binding. It contains an original approbation from [1835] written and signed by Rabbi Dov Berish.
Background: These two works were apparently written by the author, Rabbi Gershon. This is the organized version, prepared for print, with titles, large initial letters and marginal notations. After the author's death, his son, Rabbi Dovid, planned on printing his works as a merit for his soul. He went so far as to make an effort to attain an approbation from Rabbi Dov Berish Ashkenazi, great-grandson of the Chacham Zvi, Av Beit Din in Slonim and then Lublin. He succeeded in attaining this prestigious approbation for both these works, however, to the best of our knowledge, this work was never printed.
The writer of this approbation, HaRav Dov Berish Ashkenazi [1803-1854] was the great-grandson of the Chacham Zvi. He was Av Beit Din in Slonim and then Lublin. He authored Shaarei Yerushalmi on a few tracates on the Talmud Yerushalmi, which was printed in Warsaw, 1866, and then in printed editions of the Talmud Yerushalmi. He also authored the noted two-section Noda B'Shearim [Warsaw 1859-1864]. He passed away at around fifty, and his brothers printed his works. He was an exceptionally astute scholar. The sharpness of his Torah thoughts is indicated by the fact that the responsa of Rabbi Akiva Eiger printed in Warsaw 1876 include his comments and novellae on the responsa alongside that of Rabbi Shlomo Eiger, Rabbi Akiva Eiger's son. These comments were also included in later editions. Refer to: Nissenbaum, L'koros HaYehudim B'Lublin, Lublin, 1900, p. 126-127.
Condition: Very fine. Aging stains. Original marbleized paper binding.
Work on Song of Songs, the Torah, novellae and sermons according to kabbala by Rabbi Yehuda Leib of Braunschweig. Ashkenazic handwriting. 18th century. Never printed.
Specifications: 92 leaves, numbered 109-200. Text on both sides of the leaves. 17x21 cm. Thick paper.
Content: Work on Song of Songs [109-110], commentary on Song of Songs [117], large work on the Torah [117-182], novellae on Tractate Kiddushin [186-189], sermon "Dirshu Hashem B'Himatzo" [189-193], "sermon for the soul" [194-199] and "sermon for the soul with more elucidation" [199-200].
Unique Features: Organized and legible manuscript with solitary erasures and many marginal additions and comments by the author - indicating that he intended on printing this work. The work opens with a lengthy introduction from the author in which he states that he decided to write a commentary on Song of Songs since he was dissatisfied with all the commentaries on this sacred work that he had studied. The work has never been printed. The manuscript bears the stamp of the Ramsgate library.
Brunswick-Braunschweig is a city east of Hanover, in North Germany. This manuscript was written by Mahari"l Segal, rabbi of Braunschweig, as indicated in the colophon of the Mahari"l's elucidation of the Tehillim which was written in the same handwriting.
Condition: Fine-very fine. Minimal aging stains. Simple binding with gilt embossed letters.
Additional pages have been included with this bound volume:
* Introduction regarding the importance of Torah study and writing novellae and homilies. [3] pages, paper. 33x22 cm. With the author's marginal glosses.
Fine condition.
* [4] leaves, paper. Novellae and homilies, various sizes, fine condition.
Notebook of novellae on dozens of Talmudic and halachic topics, written by hand. Europe, c. 1874.
Specifications: [1], 87 leaves, paper, four of them blank. Most of the leaves are written on both sides. 17x21 cm.
Content: Index at the beginning of the notebook. The year 1874 is mentioned on page 36b. One topic is erased from the index at the beginning of the notebook and is marked as erased by crossing out on page 55.
Unique Features: Scholarly Torah work which was apparently never printed. Several additions and comments were added to the novellae.
Condition: Fine. Stains, folds in the corners of the leaves with no damage to text, partial wear on the binding.
Milchemet Gur Aryeh, [38] responsa on the laws of Orach Chaim and Yoreh Deah, by Rabbi Meir Aryeh. 19th century.
Specifications: [3], 112 leaves, paper. 21 cm. Pleasant Ashkenazic handwriting.
Content: The work begins with a quote from the book Galia Masechet which was published in Vilna in 1845. The year 1848 is mentioned in the signature on the introduction. The name of the author and the work appear in the acrostic of the poem in the book's introduction: 'Meir Aryeh' and Milchemet Gur Aryeh.
Unique Features: Unique responsa in manuscript form which was never published, by a Torah scholar and adjudicator. Additions alongside some of the responsa.
Condition: Moderate-fine. Stains, pages 43-45 are torn on the inner side without significant damage to text, page 46 is lacking. Dismantled binding.
Sefirat HaOmer chart. Handwritten with a window indicator. Germany, 19th century.
Specifications: [18] leaves, paper. 6.5 X 10.5 cm. Pretty scribal handwriting, vowelized. Instructions in Yiddish.
Unique Features: Before each day's count, the blessing over the count appears, with the "Yehi Ratzon" after it, and Psalm 67. There is a cut in the paper beside each day's count which allows for the folding of a rectangle of the page inwards to indicate the count that has passed.
Condition: Fine. Stains, slightly loose spine, some of the folded rectangles are cut. Cardboard binding.
Halachot of slaughter and checking by Rabbi Y. Weil, with Ohel Yisrael by Rabbi Yisrael of Copenhagen and with halachot in Yiddish-Teitsh. Furth, after 1821. Dozens of glosses in the handwriting of Rabbi Yitzchak Dov HaLevi Bamberger, rabbi of Wurzberg.
Specifications: [1] 43 leaves, 21 cm.
Unique Features: Glosses in the handwriting of Rabbi Yitzchak Dov HaLevi Bamberger along all the leaves of the book. In addition, at the end of the book there are seven pages in his handwriting with notes and halachic glosses. Short notes on the book are written on the flyleaf at the beginning as well. Rabbi Dr. Joseph Unna of Wurzberg-Frankfurt-Jerusalem writes that the glosses and additions at the end are in the handwriting of his grandmother's father, Rabbi Yitzchak Dov HaLevi Bamberger, and some of them are possibly by one of his sons, z"tzl. Owner's signatures. Rabbi Dr. Joseph Unna's bookplate.
Background: Rabbi Yitzchak Dov HaLevi Bamberger wrote the book Moreh L'Zovchim which includes halachot of slaughter and checking, printed at Furth 1923, and what is before us may be a draft he wrote for his book.
Rabbi Yitzchak Dov HaLevi Bamberger [1808 - 1879] was among the great rabbis of Germany in the 19th century, he was the well-known rabbi of the Wurzberg region, battled the Reform, and was rabbi to many students. He wrote a number of halachic works, Mlechet Shamayim, Nachalei Dvash, Shut Yad HaLevi, and, as mentioned, Moreh L'Zovchim. His sons and descendants were teachers and community leaders in Germany.
Condition: Fine. Aging stains. Old semi-leather binding.
Manuscript from Rabbi Shmuel Yaakov Bramson from which Shamsha D'Shmuel part one and part two and a song for the festivals before Baruch Sha'amar are printed. With changes from the printed version. [Raygorod], end of the 19th century.
Specifications: 208-329, [4] leaves, paper. 14X20 cm. Addition of 2 leaves: [1] sermon with "Notice from the Beit Din Tzedek of the Rabbinical Council of Boston" on the reverse. [1] List of corrections in the handwriting of the author on the back of a leaf with a numbered list in Russian.
Unique Features: Aside from the Torah value of the book, this is an interesting historic document regarding Jewish life during a period of numerous changes. Among other matters, the relationship to the maskilim and the assimilated [that was not printed] arises, self-defense against the antisemitic slander and the approach to the decrees of the Russian monarchy. A partial list of some of the changes is attached.
Rabbi Shmuel Yaakov son of Zvi Hirsch Bramson, of Raygorod in the Graevo district, author of Shimsha D'Shmuel part one on Megillat Esther and Ruth [Warsaw, 1897] and part two, sermons and omissions from part one [Graevo, 1903], "Zemer L'Shalosh Regalim Kodem Baruch She'Amar" [Warsaw, 190-] Minchat HaBoker with poems and elegies on his home and novellae on Shas, Vavim L'Amudim on halachic topics, Achuzat Olam on Torah, and LeShem Shishah Dvarim on the mishnah [manuscripts]. He wrote an introduction on the occasion of printing his book in 1903, and passed away not long after.
Condition: Moderate-fine. Stains. Worming damage, tears in a few leaves, the two last leaves are damaged and partially restored.
![Torah Thoughts from Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv. [Jerusalem], 1961](https://winners-files.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/sale_102-public/368_1.jpg)
![Torah Thoughts from Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv. [Jerusalem], 1961](https://winners-files.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/sale_102-public/368_2.jpg)
![Torah Thoughts from Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv. [Jerusalem], 1961](https://winners-files.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/styles/gallery-small-thumb/s3/sale_102-public/368_1.jpg?itok=CRK1tM0Y)
![Torah Thoughts from Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv. [Jerusalem], 1961](https://winners-files.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/styles/gallery-small-thumb/s3/sale_102-public/368_2.jpg?itok=Hxm23mfw)
Words of aggadah in the handwriting of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv on the occasion of the birthday of Tiferet Bachurim. [Jerusalem], 1961.
Specifications: [3] pages, paper. 15x20 cm. Handwritten in tiny, cramped letters.
Unique Features: At the beginning of the work he discusses birthdays, "Each individual person in his own life, and even more so in communal life, on the day on which a year ends and he enters his new year, should think thoughts and take account of his actions from the previous year." He later writes that one should put effort into spiritual matters in order to become stronger, to act with freshness and emotion, without becoming jaded.
Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv [1910-2012], was born in the city of Shavel, Lithuania, his parent's only son after 17 years of marriage. He immigrated to Israel with his family in 1924, settling in the Meah Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem. He served as a dayan on the Great Rabbinical Court, and later became the greatest halachic adjudicator of the generation.
Condition: Very fine, a tiny tear at the top of the leaf, a few slight aging stains.
For details please refer to the Hebrew description.
Bound manuscript, the will of Rabbi David [son of Yisrael Halprin] of Ostroh from 1765 and the will of his son Rabbi Berish. Printed in the book Darkei Zion [Polonnoye, 1797].
Specifications: [9] leaves, paper. 11x18 cm.
Bound with the manuscript:
* Kavanat HaOsek B'Torah Lishma, as explained in the book Avodat Hakodesh and in the prayer book of Rabbi Shabbtai from the words of the Arizal. 5 leaves, paper. Rashi script. 11x18 cm.
* Yosef L'Chok, explanations of the halacha and quotes from the book Darkei Zion, 6-12 leaves, paper. Scribal handwriting. 11x18 cm.
Condition: Moderate-fine. Stains. Blemishes in the corners of the leaves, the first leaf is attached with scotch tape on its inner and bottom side. New semi-leather binding.
Handwritten copy of "Chassidut V'Chochma;" a short satirical story by Yitzchak Arthur.
Specifications: [13] paper leaves, 12x21 cm.
Unique Features: Fluent and impressive handwriting in Rashi script. Copy of the London manuscript, Jews College 26 in chapter 14, 1837.
Content: Chochma V'Chassidut - published in the journal Hamaskili, Kerem Chemed in (1836). Written by Yitzchak Arthur (1791-1851), an author and member of the Enlightenment movement in Galicia. He integrates autobiographical experiences from the author's life, and relates, in fluent Biblical language, a dream with two female figures who represent chassidut and wisdom fight for the author's soul. The story was written from a 'enlightened' perspective criticizing Galician Jewry's old way of life, its chassidim and leaders. The main criticism is directed against the chassidic leaders who he claims, are deceitful and take large sums of money from suffering people in exchange for salvation.
Bound with: 'Al HaProsh', from the book Tachkemoni, by Rabbi Yehuda Elcharizi.
Specifications: [3] leaves, paper, 12x21 cm. Impressive Ashkenazic handwriting, with "How the fleas bothered me on Friday night" in Rashi script (from the fiftieth chapter of Sefer Tachkemoni).
Content: The story which appears in manuscript form before us, is part of the argument between two people regarding the character traits of the flea and the ant, with their advantages and disadvantages. It relates, in the form of a story, the way a flea bothers a man and woman, when they are unable to escape from it.
Background: Rabbi Yehuda Elcharizi (circa 1165-1225) was born in Spain and received a Jewish rabbinic education alongside education in Arab culture and language. He was fluent in the Bible and Talmud and an expert in the Hebrew language and grammar.
Condition: Very fine. Original cardboard binding.