Shev Shemaiteta – investigations into uncertainties by Rabbi Aryeh Leib HaKohen, author of Ketzot HaChoshen . Lemberg, 1804. First edition. Lacking title page.
Along the length of the book, there are many dozens of handwritten glosses and comments by Rabbi Aryeh Leibush Bernstein, in addition to comments by other writers.
Before us is a first edition of the important and popular scholarly work, later printed in dozens of editions, with many commentaries and comments written on it. The book before us attests to the astonishing genius of the author of Ketzot HaChoshen . It was written by him as a pre-bar-mitzvah boy! – as he himself attests in the introduction: “I authored this compilation in my childhood days.” Since, then, the greatest rashei yeshivah contemplate it; halachic rules laid down in it constitute sign posts from which one must not deviate, and it is considered a foundational book in the halls of yeshivahs. The foreword by Rabbi Zanvil Leib [Rabbi Shmuel Aryeh Tzehlin], which appears at the beginning of the book, was omitted in many of the later editions.
The copy before us belonged to Rabbi Aryeh Leibush Bernstein of Lvov [c. 1780-1843], one of the sages and leaders of the Lvov community, one of the prominent communities of Germany. He authored a book on the mesorah. (For more about him, refer to Encyclopedia L’Chachmei Galicia I, 623, in the entry under his name.) With his signature at the tops of the leaves at the beginning of the book.
9, 92 leaves, 22 cm. Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod 321. Expert’s confirmation of the book and the glosses included.
Moderate condition. Lacking title page. Aging stains. Lack in the lower corners of the leaves, with damage to several words in the first leaves. Detached original binding.