She’iltot D’Rav Achi Gaon Part I, with the HaAmek She’elah elucidation by Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin – the Netziv of Volozhin. Vilna, 1861. First edition of the renowned scholarly book. Copy that belonged to the gaon Rabbi Menachem Nathan Auerbach, grandson of the ‘Imrei Binah.’ Signatures and glosses.
The flyleaf bears four owner’s signatures of the gaon Rabbi Menachem Nathan Auerbach. Along the leaves of the book, there are handwritten glosses from the period of the book’s printing. One gloss deals with the author’s novellum that the commandment of joy on Yom Tov is sufficient for a single moment of the holiday, and the gloss’ writer states: Heaven forbid to say such a thing … and cites the Gr”a who said that joy on Yom Tov is more difficult for him that all the mitzvahs, as it is prohibited to be diverted from this joy for even a moment.
Rabbi Menachem Nathan Auerbach [1858-1930] was a rabbi who was one of the founders of the chief rabbinate and author of Torah books. He was born to his father Rabbi Shlomo Auerbach, son of the ‘Imrei Binah, ‘ and was rabbinically ordained by Rabbi Yisrael Yehoshua of Kutna and in-law of the gaon Rabbi Chaim Elazar Wax. He served as rabbi of the Ruchamah neighborhood in Jerusalem, and was accepted by various communities, including the secular. He would often officiate at weddings of chalutzim – pioneers building the Land, and would bring them close to each other. Rabbi Menachem Nathan Nota was one of the closest associates of Rabbi Kook, and alongside this, he was an in-law of one of Rabbi Kook’s greatest opponents, Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, rabbi of the Edah HaChareidit in Jerusalem. He authored approximately 50 books, including: Oreach Ne’eman (this book contains Rabbi Kook’s composition, ‘Mitzvat Reiyah’), Zechut Avot , Anaf Avot and more.
[1] 3-7, 123 leaves. There are copies with an additional title page. 37 cm.
Fine condition: Aging stains. Single worming tunnel. Several perforations in the flyleaf. Simple binding.