Sefer Chassidim by Rabbi Yehudah HeChassid, a fundamental Jewish sefer enshrouded in a mysterious Kabbalistic aura. The book opens with the famous Tzava’at Rebbi Yehudah HeChassid . Warsaw, 1901. Personal copy that belonged to the Prince of Torah, the gaon Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky – gadol of the most recent generation.
The front flyleaf displays his signature, “From the library of Chaim Kanievsky, ” and his owner’s stamp: “Chaim Kanievsky, Bnei Brak, ” with another stamp on the title page. Each of the dozens of times the gaon Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky cites Sefer Chassidim in his sefarim ( Da’at Noteh and others), he is apparently quoting from this very copy here.
Personal Sefer Chassidim owned by the gaon Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, in which he studied (as he studied the entire Torah) to the extent that he knew it by heart. As can be seen in one of Reb Chaim’s responsa to a young man inquiring with respect to a shidduch suggestion that goes against the Sefer Chassidim , Rabbi Chaim responds in a startling manner, “I haven’t found this in Sefer Chassidim “! The gaon Rabbi Chaim, as was his way, replies with complete confidence that among the thousands of Kabbalistic inyanim that appear in Sefer Chassidim , this stringency does not appear! This is only possible for one who knows the book backwards and forwards. ( Sefer Kol Mishalotayich by his disciple Rabbi Eliyahu Mann, Bnei Brak, 2019, p. 69.)
In our discussion of Sefer Chassidim , we will quote what is attributed to the gaon Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky in the book MeAchorei HaPargod (Bnei Brak, 2012, p 276): “The gaon Rabbi Chaim says in the name of Sefer Chassidim : Sometimes Hashem makes a war between nations so that one will relocate to a different place in order to meet his intended! He brought an example from his brother-in-law, ztz”l, the gaon Rabbi Shaul Barzam, who fled Holland due to the war, and arrived in the Land of Israel, where he married.”
Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of Rabbi Shmaryahu Yosef Chaim Kanievsky .
114 leaf, 21 cm.
Fine condition. Many usage marks. Minimal worming perforations. Tear in the margins of leaf 113. Partially detached binding.