Auction 96 Early Printed Books, Chassidut and Kabbalah, Books Printed in Jerusalem, Letters and Manuscripts
Volume comprising two books by R. Refael Shlomo Laniado, among the great Rabbis of Aleppo:
Beit Dino Shel Shlomo, responsa, by R. Refael Shlomo Laniado. Constantinople: Shmuel Ashkenazi, [1775].
Bound with: Lechem Shlomo, by R. Refael Shlomo Laniado. Constantinople: Shmuel Ashkenazi, [1775].
Index of Beit Dino Shel Shlomo printed in leaves 31-44 of Lechem Shlomo.
Handwritten gloss in Oriental script on p. 33a of Beit Dino Shel Shlomo.
Two books in one volume. Beit Dino Shel Shlomo: [8], 228 leaves. Lechem Shlomo: 44 leaves. 32 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains, including dampstains. Worming, affecting text. Original leather binding, with damage and worming in many places.
Seder Modaah, instructions for making a public declaration, to be read monthly or at least twice yearly. Thessaloniki: printer not indicated, [ca. 1850]. Ladino.
Instructions for making a public declaration, in Ladino translation (vocalized Hebrew script), with the title page in Hebrew.
Ownership inscription on title page (Ladino).
[8] leaves. 13 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains, including dark stains. Wear. Small marginal tears. Original colored paper wrapper, with damage, and tears to spine.
Pe'at HaShulchan, laws pertaining to Eretz Israel, by R. Yisrael of Shklow, disciple of the Vilna Gaon. Safed: R. Yisrael Bak, 1836. First edition.
The author, R. Yisrael of Shklow (1770-1839), a close disciple of the Vilna Gaon (who studied with him during his final days), published the books of the Vilna Gaon and disseminated his teachings, and was a leader of the immigration of the Vilna Gaon's disciples to Eretz Israel.
In a lengthy and important introduction at the beginning of the book, the author relates his trials and tribulations after his immigration to Eretz Israel, including a plague that broke out in the Galilee in 1813, the passing of his wife when they fled to Jerusalem, the passing of their children from the plague which also spread to Jerusalem, and the passing of his parents in the Galilee. He goes on to recount his subsequent return to the Galilee, his imprisonment during the Siege of Acre, his miraculous rescue from a collapse of houses during winter in Safed, and more.
The rest of his introduction is a highly important biographical source for the Vilna Gaon. R. Yisrael of Shklow describes at length the greatness of his teacher, his method and practices, his outstanding expertise in Torah and sciences and more.
[5], 2-109, [1] leaves. 30.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Worming and tears to margins of title page and several other leaves. Parts of the text are blurred in several places. Stamp and handwritten inscriptions. Original binding worn, front side loose, with many open tears and worming to spine and endpapers.
One of the last books published in Safed before the 1837 earthquake, after which the author and printer, R. Yisrael Bak, moved to Jerusalem.
The present copy includes final leaf of errata.
Vinograd, Otzar Sifrei HaGra, no. 1543.
"And may the merit of our great and holy rabbi stand at my right side… All my aspiration and hope is his great merit, as G-d granted me the merit of seeing the light of the face of the king while still alive, half a year before he was recalled to the heavenly yeshiva, and I merited to attend to him and be like a servant to the king twenty days before his passing. Many times I recited Scripture and Mishnah before him, and my hand did not leave him until our glorious crown was removed from our head" (introduction of R. Yisrael of Shklow to Beur HaGra on Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim, Shklow 1803).
Letter to the American philanthropist R. Dov Manischewitz and his wife Nesha, regarding the donations collected from the United States for the poor of Jerusalem, with the signatures and stamps of the Jerusalem Torah scholars and heads of the Vaad HaKlali, appointees of the kollels. Jerusalem, Kislev 1904.
Ten signatories: R. "Yitzchak Blazer" [the Rabbi of St. Petersburg, disciple of R. Yisrael Salanter]; R. Menachem Mendel Rabin [head of the Chassidic settlement in Jerusalem, son of R. Shmuel Aharon, Rabbi of Korczyna, author of Masa Meiron]; R. Elimelech Perlman [an important activist and leader of the Chassidic community of Jerusalem, son of R. Yisrael Isser Perlman, Rabbi of Rozwadów and son-in-law of R. Baruch Binyamin Ze'ev Wolf Weinstock, the first Chassidic dayan in Jerusalem]; R. Eliyahu Ze'ev Wolfsohn; R. Gedaliah Nachman Broder; R. Asher Dov Sussman; R. Yitzchak Eliezer Charlap; R. Moshe Ze'ev Silberman; R. Meir Adler [son-in-law of Rebbe Elazar Mendel Bidermann of Lelov]; and R. "Dov Ber Abramowitz – secretary" [a rabbi of St. Louis, United States, and a head of the Vaad HaKlali in Eretz Israel and the United States].
In the margins of the signatures is a letter with the signatures of the rabbis of the city, R. Shmuel Salant and R. Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim (the Aderet): "We too greet you and bless you with success and sign with a blessing".
R. Yitzchak Blazer – known as R. Itzele Peterburger (1837-1907), prominent disciple of R. Yisrael Salanter, and disseminator of the Musar movement in the Lithuanian yeshivas. Leading Torah scholar of his times, a Musar personality known for his holiness. At the instruction of R. Salanter he began to serve as Rabbi of St. Petersburg in 1862; in 1878 he resigned and moved to Kovno, and headed the Kovno Kollel starting in 1880. Later he also resigned from this position in order to continue his service of God as a private individual. During all of these periods, he would deliver Musar sermons in the Knesset Yisrael yeshiva in Slabodka, near Kovno. In 1902 he began preparing to immigrate to Eretz Israel, to which end he sold his house and property in Kovno, finally arriving in Eretz Israel in 1904. At his arrival in Jaffa, he was received in a ceremony attended by many leading Jerusalem rabbis. During this period R. Itzele directed the Vilna Kollel in Jerusalem and headed the Vaad HaKlali of charitable institutions in Jerusalem. Author of Responsa Pri Yitzchak in two parts.
[1] leaf, official stationery. 28 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, including dark dampstains. Wear and folds. Repaired with paper on verso.
Huge collection of over 200 letters from rabbis, gabba'im and philanthropists from all over the world: United States, Europe, South Africa, and various other countries. [Ca. 1890s-1900s].
The letters were sent to R. Shmuel Salant, Rabbi of Jerusalem. Some are also addressed to the other rabbis who assisted him in administering the city's tzedakah funds: R. Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim (the Aderet); R. Yitzchak Blazer of St. Petersburg; R. Chaim Berlin of Moscow; and other rabbis and gabba'im from the Vaad HaKlali and additional institutions in the city.
R. Shmuel Salant (1816-1909), immigrated from Salant to Eretz Israel in 1841 to serve as posek and rabbi of the Perushim community of disciples of the Vilna Gaon in Jerusalem. His father-in-law R. Yosef Zundel Salant immigrated to Jerusalem in the same period. In his capacity as rabbi of Jerusalem, a position he held for close to seventy years, he founded the educational and charitable institutions in the city, established the Beit Din and strengthened the Ashkenazi community. He was renowned for his brilliance and practical approach to halachic ruling and in running communal matters in Jerusalem and worldwide.
Over 200 letters. Size and condition varies.
Large collection of letters and documents, halachic decisions, receipts and additional papers, from the estate of R. Shalom Yosef Alshich, head of the Yemenite Beit Din in Israel, including letters and documents signed by him and sent to him, including many signatures of Yemenite rabbis in Jerusalem.
The Yemenite rabbis and community leaders whose signatures appear on documents in the collection include: R. Avraham Chaim Nadaf, R. Shalom Yosef Iraqi, Chaim son of David Jamal, Yehudah son of Avraham Shalom Chabshush, R. Yosef Chiya HaLevi Alshich, and others.
This lot includes a halachic decision from 1901 signed by R. Yosef Nisim Burla (1828-1903, head of the Sephardic Beit Din in Jerusalem) and R. Vidal Chanoch Angel (dayan and head of the Beit Din, head of the Beit El kabbalistic yeshiva, d. 1907); and a record of testimony from 1930 signed by the witness "Amram Aburbeh" (1892-1967; dayan in Jerusalem and Chief Rabbi of Petach Tikva; author of Netivei Am books).
Also includes: Various visiting cards of R. Shalom Yosef Alshich and Shanah Tovah cards, invitations and printed items of the Yemenite Community Committee, and more.
R. Shalom son of Yosef HaLevi Alshich (1859-1944), a prominent kabbalist and head of the Yemenite Beit Din of Jerusalem and Chief Rabbi of the Yemenite community. Born in Sanaa, Yemen, he was a disciple of R. Chaim Korach and R. Yichya Badichi. He immigrated to Eretz Israel, where he strengthened Yemenite institutions in Jerusalem. He taught at the kabbalistic yeshivas Beit El and Rechovot HaNahar. He wrote commentaries on Yemenite piyyutim and himself composed many piyyutim expressing the Jewish longing to return to Eretz Israel.
Over 50 items, including 27 signed letters and documents. Varying size. Most in overall good condition.
Assorted collection of letters, emissary letters and letters to philanthropists, and letters on various matters and documents, from Sephardic rabbis and Torah scholars from Jerusalem. Jerusalem, ca. 1880s-1930s:
• Emissary letter from the Beit El kabbalistic yeshiva for the emissary R. Moshe Ben-Shushan, signed by the yeshiva deans – R. Shalom Hedaya, R. Naftali Baruch, R. Yeshuah Ben-Shushan and R. Avraham Azriel. [Jerusalem, ca. 1930s].
• Letter to R. Refael Tzarfati and the philanthropist Yachya Amoyal, requesting assistance for the Beit El kabbalistic yeshiva, signed by the yeshiva deans – R. Shalom Hedaya, R. Naftali Baruch, R. Shmuel Azran, R. Yeshuah Ben-Shushan and R. Avraham Azriel. [Jerusalem, ca. 1930s].
• Letter to the philanthropist Moshe Sikirra, a request for assistance for the poor of Jerusalem before the Passover festival, signed by the Rishon LeTzion R. Eliyahu Moshe Panigel, R. Mordechai Yisrael, R. Chaim David Sornaga and R. Shmuel Nisim. Jerusalem, Adar 1929.
• Three letters from the Sephardic Beit Din. Letter on divorce matters sent to R. Uziel, signed by dayanim R. Shmuel Nisim, R. Shlomo Hedaya and R. Chaim Eliyah HaLevi. Jerusalem, Tamuz 1912; certificate declaring Avraham son of Chaim Chason unmarried, signed by dayanim R. Chaim Eliyah HaLevi, R. Shmuel Moshe Mizrachi and R. Shalom Hedaya. Jerusalem, Elul 1912; certificate declaring Bat Sheva daughter of R. Yitzchak HaLevi unmarried, signed by dayanim R. Shmuel Nisim, R. Shalom Hedaya and R. Avraham Bijajo. Jerusalem, Iyar 1914.
• Letter signed and stamped by R. Moshe Franko, "Chacham Bashi in Jerusalem", to R. Bentzion Uziel. Jerusalem, Av 1914.
• Letter from the Maghrebi community council, sent to R. Refael Chaim Moshe Ben-Naim (Rachaman) in Gibraltar, signed and stamped by rabbis of Jerusalem and Maghrebi community officials – R. Nachman Betito, Rabbi of the Maghrebi community; R. Eliyahu Yaakov Ajimi; R. Shimon Ashriki; R. Shmuel Alaluf; and R. Yaakov Ben-Atar. Jerusalem, Tishrei 1912.
• Letter of the Maghrebi Beit Din in Jerusalem, sent to R. Bentzion Uziel, Rabbi of Tel Aviv, signed by the dayanim R. Shmuel Azran, R. Yosef Shlush and R. Shalom Azulai. Jerusalem, Tamuz 1931.
• Printed emissary letter (in gilt ink) for the emissary of the Maghrebi community R. Shlomo Kohen Zaguri, with (printed) signatures of R. Avraham Abikhzir, R. Yosef Shlush, R. Shalom Azulai, R. Amram Aburbeh and community officials. Rohld press, Jerusalem. Filled in by hand, mentioning "Sefrou" and the philanthropist "Amram Attiya", with stamp of R. Shlomo HaKohen Sikli, Sivan 1936.
• Letter containing an appeal from the General Orphanage, signed by R. Avraham Pilosof, R. Yosef HaLevi, R. Chanania Gavriel and R. Avraham Azriel. Jerusalem, Elul 1914.
• Letter signed by R. Nisim Danon, head of the Chief Rabbinate in Jerusalem, regarding the Blumenthal orphanage. Jerusalem, Shevat 1919.
• Handwritten inscription (in Ashkenazic script) of money accounts, signed by R. Yaakov Shaul Elyashar. Jerusalem, Tishrei 1887.
13 items, including 12 items with the rabbis' signatures. Varying size and condition. Overall good condition.
Large assorted collection of letters, documents, receipts and various documents, most signed by Sephardic rabbis in Tiberias, between ca. 1900-1960.
Among other things, the collection includes: Official stationery and printed receipts, some printed in color, decorations and pictures of holy sites, filled in by hand and signed or stamped by the rabbis.
Some items included in the collection:
• Letter of blessing for the bar mitzvah of Mordechai son of Avraham Nachum, neatly written, with the signatures of the city rabbis (calligraphic signatures): R. Aharon Alchadif, the Chacham Bashi (with his stamp); R. Yehudah Toledano; R. Shmuel Ben-Kiki; R. David Soudri; R. Baruch Toledano and R. Machluf HaKohen. Tiberias, 25 Shevat [1900].
• Large printed leaf with Shanah Tovah wishes, from the Sephardic Jewish community in Tiberias, with the addressees, the brothers Ashkenazi, filled in by hand. Stamps of Tiberias institutions and signature-like stamps of R. Shmuel Ben-Kiki and R. Avraham Abuchatzeira. Tiberias, [ca. 1890s-1910s].
• Certificate declaring Yosef son of Yeshuah Zrihan unmarried, with (calligraphic) signatures and stamps of dayanim R. Shmuel Ben-Kiki (head of Tiberias Beit Din), R. Yaakov Chai Zrihan and R. Eliyahu Illouz. Tiberias, 1914.
• Certificate declaring Yosef son of Yeshuah Zrihan unmarried, signed and stamped by R. Chaim Yissachar Abulafia, the Chacham Bashi. Tiberias, 1914.
• Letter from the Chacham Bashi R. Chaim [son of R.] Aharon Alchadif to R. Bentzion Uziel. Lengthy handwritten letter [scribal writing?], with R. Alchadif's official stamp and signature-like stamp. Tiberias, Tamuz [1919].
• Reports on Torah and educational institutions in Tiberias, signed by R. Meir Vaknin. 1920s-1930s.
• Postcard with letter from R. Meir Vaknin to his son Pinchas Vaknin. 1943.
• Three postcards with letters handwritten and signed by R. Meir Vaknin (with his stamp), to R. Shimon Ohayon, a rabbi in Jaffa. Tiberias, Cheshvan and Kislev 1959.
• Receipts and signed letters (on official stationeries of the institutions in Tiberias), signed by the rabbis and emissaries: R. Yaakov Vaknin, R. Bechor Yehudah Vaknin, R. Chaim Yosef Maman, R. Refael Bibas, R. Yaakov Chai Zrihan, R. Shalom Malka, R. Baruch Toledano and others.
• Two photographs on postcards, with letters from R. Bechor Yehudah Vaknin. One postcard shows a photograph of a procession of Torah scrolls at the celebration of R. Meir Baal HaNes, and the other shows a photograph of R. Bechor Yehudah and his wife. Tiberias, Adar 1930 / Elul 1931.
28 letters and printed items. Varying size and condition.
Collection of documents, receipts and printed papers, most with signatures of the Or Torah yeshiva in Tiberias, rabbis of the Ashkenazi Chassidic community and leading Chassidim of Slonim: R. Yitzchak Matityahu Sandberg, R. Moshe Kliers Rabbi of Tiberias, R. Yisrael Kohen, R. Pinchas Mintzberg and Rebbe Avraham Weinberg [the Birkat Avraham of Slonim]. Tiberias, ca. 1900s-1950s.
Includes printed receipts, some decorated or printed in color, with signatures of the rabbis filled out by hand; two manuscript leaves, signed by R. Yitzchak Matityahu Sandberg, one with a list of scholars and students in the Or Torah yeshiva and the other with a list of teachers of the Or Torah school, and more.
R. Moshe Kliers (1874-1934), rabbi of the Ashkenazi community in Tiberias and dean of the Or Torah yeshiva. He was the son-in-law of R. Yehudah Leib Kastelanitz, leading Slonim Chassid in Tiberias, and brother-in-law of Rebbe Mordechai Chaim Slonim, who served as dayan in the Beit Din of R. Moshe Kliers.
Rebbe Avraham Weinberg (the third) of Slonim, author of Birkat Avraham (1889-1981), a dean of the Or Torah yeshiva in Tiberias and founder of the Haredi educational system in Eretz Israel. He led the Slonim community for some twenty-seven years, and served as a member of Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah.
10 items. 7 with original signature (others with photocopied signatures). Varying size. Overall good condition.
Assorted collection of over thirty letters and documents, rulings issued by Beit Din and wills. Safed, ca. 1880s-1930s.
The signatories on letters and halachic rulings in the present collection include: R. Avraham Leib Silberman, Rabbi of Safed; R. Efraim Shraga Weingott, a rabbi in Safed; R. Nachum Etrog, a rabbi in Safed; dayanim of the Chief Rabbinate in Jerusalem: R. Tzvi Pesach Frank, R. Bentzion Cuenca and R. Yerucham Fishel Berenstein; R. Baruch Kahana Malayov; R. David Kahana; R. Menachem Mendel Kahana; R. Yechiel Schneerson and his father R. Moshe Shalom Schneerson; and more.
33 paper items. Varying size and condition.
Collection of marriage certificates printed by the "Committee of the Ashkenazic Community in Jerusalem". Jerusalem: Tzion, [1920s]. Filled in by hand with signatures, for marriages held between ca. 1931-1936.
The certificates are printed on large leaves, with the details filled in by hand. The title of the document is "Marriage Certificate". At the top of the leaves is the official header: "Committee of the Ashkenazic Community in Jerusalem… headed by R. Avraham Schorr".
Some of the certificates are signed by the officiating rabbi himself. The signatures include: R. Elimelech Rubenstein (the Rabbi of Rachów), Rebbe Aryeh Mordechai Rabinowitz of Porisov (the Rabbi of Kurów and Rabbi of Bnei Brak); R. Yaakov Moshe Charlap; R. Yosef Gershon Horowitz (rabbi and dean of the Meah Shearim yeshiva); R. Yitzchak Yaakov Wachtfogel; R. Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer; R. Avraham Elyashiv (Rabbi of Gomel; Rabbi of Tiferet Bachurim); R. Yaakov Henich Senkevitz (dean of the Sefat Emet Ger yeshiva); R. Yaakov Asher HaLevi Grayevsky; R. Yitzchak David Rubenstein; R. Yair Peterseil, "formerly rabbi in Berlin"; R. Yaakov Aryeh HaLevi Prager; R. Simchah Bunim Werner; R. Shmuel Weingart; Rebbe Pinchas HaLevi Horowitz; R. Pinchas Lichtenstein (Rabbi in Givat Shaul); R. Shmuel Pesach Heilpern; R. Chaim Pesachowitz; R. Shmuel Eliezri; and more.
On one of the certificates, for a marriage held on 12 Elul, 1932, the name of the officiating rabbi is given as: "R. Yoel Teitelbaum of Carei" [during his first visit to Eretz Israel in 1932, before his appointment as Rabbi of Satmar].
About 72 marriage certificates. Size and condition varies (overall good condition; damage and stains to some of the certificates).
Collection of documents and publications of Orthodox organizations for purchasing land and settling in northern Jerusalem (in the Nabi Samwil area, near the tomb of the prophet Samuel), ca. 1920s. Includes signatures of: R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld [chief rabbi of the Edah HaCharedit], R. David Beharan, R. Asher Lemel Beharan, R. Yitzchak Tzvi Rivlin [rabbi in Zichron Moshe], R. Amram Blau [later head of Neturei Karta], R. Yisrael Yitzchak Reisman [later dayan of the Edah HaCharedit], and others.
• Letter from Ramatayim Tzofim, an organization for Orthodox settlements in Eretz Israel, signed by Yisrael Luria, on acquisition of land in Ramah. Jerusalem, 1923.
• Handwritten document from Ramatayim Tzofim, signed by rabbis and leaders of the organization, authorizing R. Avraham Hershkowitz to sell estates. Signed by directors of the company, R. David Beharan, R. Yechiel Yehudah Schlesinger, R. Eliyahu Tzvi Krauser, R. Amram Blau and R. Avraham Steiner; along with a letter of approval from the Beit Din Tzedek, signed by dayanim R. Yitzchak Frankel, R. Dov Tzvi Karlenstein and the scribe R. Avraham Chaim Naeh. On the margins of the leaf is a letter of approval and blessing handwritten and signed by R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld. Jerusalem, Tamuz 1924.
• Handwritten document with seven signatures, on the sale of a plot of land to R. Yosef Levi Chagiz – signed by R. Yitzchak Tzvi Rivlin, R. Matityahu Naftali Elbe, R. Asher Lemel Beharan [Weissfish], R. Aharon Sari Levi, R. David Yitzchak Altschuler, R. Yisrael Moshe Goldschmid and R. Alter Streltzer. Jerusalem, Tevet 1923. The signatures are crossed out, with the inscription "paid" [apparently the present document of sale was used as mortgage for a loan from the renowned Orthodox philanthropist R. Yosef Levi Chagiz].
• Kol Mevaser Yeshuah, printed poster with letters from the heads of Nachalat Yisrael Ramah and R. Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, on resettling the Ramah neighborhood, the residence of the prophet Samuel. Jerusalem, [ca. 1921-1922].
• Document of sale for land in the Nachalat Yosef neighborhood founded by Ramatayim Tzofim, filled in by hand with signatures of the directors of the organization: R. Yisrael Yitzchak HaLevi Reisman, R. Pinchas Tzvi Shenberger, R. Moshe Holtzman, R. Abba Eisenbach and the secretary R. Amram Blau. Jerusalem, Elul 1922. On the verso is a confirmation dated 1985 on the voiding of the share, by a lawyer from Ramatayim Tzofim.
• Advertisement from the Peli Agency for brokerage services in purchasing plots of land in Jerusalem and the region, sold by the Tamuah company. [Jerusalem, ca. 1920s-1930s].
6 leaves. Varying size and condition (open tears at the top of the letter of authorization signed by R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld).