Aseifat Zekeinim [ Shitah Mekubetzet ] on Tractate Bava Batra and Tractate Nazir, by the gaon Rabbi Betzalel Askenazi, teacher of the Ar”i HaKadosh. Printed for the first time from manuscript. Livorno, 1774. Copy that belonged to the gaon Rabbi Chaim Berlin, son of the Netzi”v of Volozhin.
Before us is the first edition of the monumental book, Shitah Mekubetzet , one of the most important books of the Later Authorities [ה’אחרונים’], if not the most important among them. The attitude of Torah literature to it is like the attitude to the Early Authorities [ה’ראשונים’]. The prevailing opinion is that the the Ar”i HaKadosh, disciple of the author, was the one who edited Shitah Mekubetzet . In the past, it was customary that just as a bridegroom would receive a set of Talmud as his wedding present, a bar-mitzvah boy would receive the book Shitah Mekubetzet as a gift.
The first edition before us is adorned with the approbation of Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azoulay, the Chid”a, who wrote it while he was an emissary in Italy.
On the title page, on the following leaf and on the last leaf, there are [3] owner’s signatures by the gaon Rabbi Chaim Berlin, son of the gaon the Netziv, ztz”l, previous rabbi of Moscow and Ra’ava”d and rosh yeshivah in Volozhin, and presently in Jerusalem. There are several handwritten glosses along the book’s leaves.
The gaon Rabbi Chaim Berlin [1832-1913] , son of the Netziv, served as chief rabbi of Moscow, and as head of the most famous yeshivah in the world – Volozhin, also known as “Em HaYeshivot.” In 1906, he ascended to Jerusalem, and after Rabbi Shmuel Salant’s passing, his authority and his greatness in Torah were recognized as rabbi of the Edah HaChareidit in Jerusalem, despite the fact that he refused to accept the position in an official capacity.
2, 37 leaves, 34 cm. Stefansky, Sifrei Yessod 62.
Fine condition: Additional owner’s signature. Aging stains. Taped reinforcement to the title page. Simple binding.