Auction 95 Early Printed Books, Chassidut and Kabbalah, Letters and Manuscripts, Engravings and Jewish Ceremonial Objects
Handwritten notebook, calendar for 5703 (1942-1943). [Europe, 1942-1943].
Notebook (grid paper) with details of the Jewish calendar for the year 5703, aligned with months and days of the secular calendar.
Each page is dedicated to one of the months of the year, divided into days and weeks, with the Parashah, Haftarah and holidays noted. The notebook starts in Tishrei "September-October 1942" and ends in Elul "September 1943".
The scribe is unknown. Apparently, the notebook was written in the Nazi or Soviet occupied territories, during the Holocaust, as a replacement for a printed calendar unavailable to the scribe during those difficult times.
Many inscriptions (in pencil), with calculations related to the calendar and Moladot.
[7] leaves, with printed paper wrapper. 19.5 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains and wear. One leaf disconnected. Folds.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Talmud Bavli – complete set. Munich-Heidelberg, 1948. "Published by the Union of Rabbis in the American Occupation Zone in Germany".
After World War II, the demand for Talmud and holy books by surviving Jews congregated in the DP camps exceeded the few available copies. From 1946, the Union of Rabbis in Germany, with the assistance of the American army and the JDC, began to print volumes of Talmud for survivors. At first, only a few tractates were printed in various formats. In 1948, the present edition – a complete edition of the Talmud – was printed for the first time. Each volume contains two title pages. The first title page was especially designed to commemorate the printing of the Talmud on the debased German land; on its upper part is an illustration of a Jewish town with the caption "From slavery to redemption and from darkness to great light"; on its lower part is an illustration of barbed wire fences and a concentration camp, with the captions: "Labor camp in Germany during Nazi era", "They almost destroyed me on Earth, but I did not forsake Your precepts" (Psalms 119).
19 volumes. Missing first title page in Tractate Shabbat. Approx. 39 cm. Overall good condition. Stains. Tears, including tears to part of the title pages. Original bindings, with new leather spines (uniform).
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Collection of books printed in Shanghai between 1942-1946 by refugees from yeshivot who fled to the far east during the Holocaust period, including Talmud, commentaries, halachah and musar books.
21 books. Size and condition Vary. New bindings. The books were not thoroughly examined, and are being sold as is.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Letter handwritten and signed by Rebbe Menachem Mendel Hager, Rabbi of Visheve. Kislev 1940.
Letter of recommendation sent to the president of the Orthodox Bureau in Budapest, enclosed with a request for rescue (apparently from concentration camps). Rebbe Menachem Mendel Hager attests that he knows the person and that the matter is life-threatening, closing with his signature.
Rebbe Menachem Mendel Hager of Visheve (1885-1941), son of the Ahavat Yisrael of Vizhnitz. Served as rabbi of Vizhnitz, and later of Visheve (Vișeu de Sus), where he founded the Beit Yisrael yeshiva. A leader of Agudat Yisrael and member of the Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah.
The present letter dates to the end of the Rebbe's life, about a month before his passing on 13 Tevet, 1941.
[1] leaf. 22.5 cm. Good condition. Stains and folds.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Letters and Piskey Din, signed by R. Yaakov Yitzchak Neumann, head of the Pápa Beit Din. Pápa, 1945-1946.
Five records of testimonies, signed by R. Neumann and his court. Written and signed to permit marriage by the Special Beit Din for Agunot established in Budapest after the Holocaust.
Enclosed is a letter handwritten and signed by R. Neumann regarding a wedding held in Pápa without obtaining the approval of the Beit Din (including his signature).
R. Yaakov Yitzchak Neumann, the dayan of Pupa (Pápa; 1911-2007), a prominent rabbi and posek in the previous generation. Taught thousands of students over the course of seventy years. Was a faithful disciple of the Pupa rebbes, appointed by the Vayaged Yaakov of Pupa to head the Pápa Beit Midrash and after the Holocaust assisted Rebbe Yosef Grünwald, the Vayechi Yosef of Pupa. He later served as Rabbi of the Melbourne community (Australia) and Machazikei HaDat community in Montreal (Canada).
6 leaves. About 22 cm. Overall good condition. Stains and minor tears.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.