Avodat HaGershoni . Responsa from Rabbi Gershon Ashkenazi. Frankfurt A.M. [1699]. First edition. Stamp of Rabbi Avraham of Chechanov.
The title page bears the stamp: אברהם ב”ר רפאל ז”ל.
Rabbi Avraham Landau was born in 1784. He was an outstanding Torah sage and noted rabbi of Chechanov, and patriarch of the Strikov dynasty. He was a noted adjudicator and one the of the most prominent Torah sages of his generation. His halachic opinion was highly esteemed. The central questions of the generation, the ones that stirred disputes and controversies, were brought before him for his opinion, including: machine matzot, Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess fund, decree against mode of dress and shaving beard and peyot, divorces and releasing agunot.
In 1820 he was appointed rabbi of Chechanov and served there for 55 years until his death. Right after his appointment, he established a yeshiva in the city that he headed. Many of his disciples in the yeshiva later became Torah leaders in Poland.
For many years he refused to act as chassidic Admor. It was only in [1866], after the death of the Chidushei HaRim of Gur, that he agreed to accept this role, with the claim that there was a need to fill the void created after the death of the Gerer Rebbe. Though he did start filling some of the customs of an Admor, he did not change two of his behaviors: davening Shachrit with vatikin and reciting the Ashkenazic nusach.
Rabbi Avraham of Chechanov passed away in 1875. Many of his progeny were Admors. His son, the Admor Rabbi Dov Berish of Biale, was the father of the Strikov chassidut.
The author, Rabbi Gershon Askenazi, was the Rabbi of the Viennese community until their expulsion from the city. He then served as Rabbi of Metz. He received questions from all Jewish communities. Includes a lengthy preface with the author’s biography by Rabbi Dovid Oppenhim, who was Rabbi of Nikolsburg at the time.
[4] 94 [4] leaves, 31 cm. Moderate condition. new binding.