Chavatzelet, Mevaser Tziyon: Michtavei Et Yotzeh LaOhr B'Chol Shavua Yevaser V'Yashmia kol Davar HaDarush L'Chafetz Levav Ish Yehudi, edited by Dov Frumkin. Jerusalem. HaChavatzelet Press, Jerusalem, 1872-1910.

The Chavatzelet Journal was a Hebrew-language journal founded by Yisrael Bek (1863), published under the editorship of his son-in-law, Yisrael Dov Frumkin, 1870-1911. Starting in October 1881, it was published in a weekly edition, later at a rate of three issues each week. The issues were published in Ottoman Jerusalem and distributed to Jewish centers including Russia, Austria, France, Turkey, England and America. This journal presented the stance of the chassidim, and to some degree that of the Sephardic community as well, while competing with the HaLevanon journal published by the perushim of the old yishuv. HaChavatzelet encouraged immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel and presented a vivid picture of events among the Jewish people. It emphasized the success of the development of the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel, and brought news from all over the Jewish world, articles on thought and halachah, book reviews, stories, and more. In 1882-3, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda was acting editor. Writers included rabbis and renowned public personalities.

A list of the issues is available on Winner's website.

The vast majority of the issues before us are bound in ten volumes.

Various conditions - poor-fine. The vast majority are in fine condition

Einstein's portrait - etching. On the etching, Einstein wrote, "Happy is the transitory whose countenance is snatched away by the pitiless master hand of time!"

In February 1923, Einstein visited the Land of Israel, and Struck invited him to visit his home on the Carmel. In a letter sent to a friend, Struck described how he was harsh with the great physicist, who had won the Nobel Prize a year earlier: The visit was planned for Friday, and Struck, who was a mitzvah-observant Jew, warned Einstein to take into account the time Shabbat begins, and Einstein obeyed. "So he walked the difficult path and up the ascent to the Carmel on foot, in very unpleasant weather. His consideration and efforts were greatly appreciated by all of us." Einstein took it in good humor, "For Struck I ruined my trousers," he said. And Struck wrote, "I immediately removed the chastised man's coat and dressed him in my beautiful housecoat that I had received from my wife."

Herman Struck [1876-1944] was the leading Jewish artist who immigrated to Israel. He contributed more than any other artist to the development of the graphic arts in the Land of Israel. Honorable status is reserved for him in Israel's cultural life. He was born to an Orthodox family in Berlin. At the beginning of his career as an artist, he became one of the most important Jewish artists in Germany in the wake of his publication of the famous portrait of Theodor Herzl, [Portrait of Theodor Herzl] given his deep impression of Herzl's image following their 1903 meeting in Vienna. In 1908, he published The Art of Etching, which detailed the procedure for printing the etchings. The book was very successful, and made its author the leading name in the field of etching in the entire art world. His students included Chagall, Max Leibermann, Jozef Israëls. Struck was an enthusiastic Zionist activist, and in 1922 he immigrated to the Land of Israel and built his home on the Carmel. He continued visiting his studio in Berlin on an annual basis until 1933, when he began dealing with founding the new Bezalel in the Land of Israel.

1 leaf, paper. Etching: 20x14 cm. Leaf size: 24x17 cm. 3 lines and a signature in Einstein's handwriting, in pencil, and also Struck's signature in pencil.

Fine-very fine condition. Two tiny stains beside the etching.

Printed Mizrach board - with a wondrous segulah from the pure and holy teacher Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli, zy"a - Jerusalem, 19th Century.

Printed Mizrach board, published by Rabbi "Ber Zwebner, son of the gaon of Kavelsdorf, N"Y." Jerusalem, [c. 1870-1875].

Printed at the top: "סגולה נפלאה... בזמן עיפוש ומגיפה" ["Wondrous segulah ... at times of mold and plague"] in Hebrew and Aramaic by kabbalist Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli, ending with the prayer, "לטהר ולזכך אויר עולמיך מכל עיפוש וקלקול" ["To purify and refine your world from all mold and spoilage"]. Two illustrations are printed under the segulah and prayer: on the right - the Western Wall, and on the left - tomb of the kings of the House of David. In between, there is a commentary by the Riva"sh of Zamoshye - a chart detailing the 42 journeys of the Children of Israel in the desert, arranged according to the letters אב"ג ית"ץ. On the board, it is mentioned that it was printed "by order of and published by Rabbi Ber Zwebner son of the gaon of Kavelsdorf, N"Y." The publisher's father, Rabbi Avraham Shaag-Zwebner, Av Beit Din of Kobersdorf, passed away in 1876, and given that he is mentioned with a blessing for the living (N"Y [=Nero Yair]), we conclude that this board was published even earlier. Not in the National Library!

[1] leaf paper. 36x49 cm.

Condition: Very fine.