Sefer Chassidim, mussar and topics related to Yirat Shamayim (fear of Heaven), by Rabbi Yehuda HaChassid. Krakow, [1581]. Printed by Yitshak [Isaac] ben Aharon of Prostitz (Prostějov).
Various ownership inscriptions. On the back free endpaper is an ownership inscription in ancient Ashkenazi script: "This book belongs to… R. Pinchas HaLevi Ish Horowitz Av Beit Din and Rosh Metivta in Frankfurt am Main". This attests that this copy belonged to R. Pinchas HaLevi Horowitz, author of the Hafla'ah.
[Additional ownership inscriptions on front endpapers: "Sefer Chassidim belongs to David Prague of Worms", "Ber son of R. David of Prague" and "Yisrael son of … Shmuel… of Lissa"].
R. Pinchas HaLevi Ish Horowitz, author of the Hafla'ah (1791-1805), close disciple of R. Dov Ber the Magid of Mezeritch, [studied under his tutelage together with his brother R. Shmelke of Nikolsburg]. For more than 30 years, he served as Rabbi of Frankfurt am Main, the hub of Torah study in Germany at that time. The Chatam Sofer was among his disciples. He authored important books, including HaMikneh on Tractate Kiddushin, Ketubah on Tractate Ketubot and Hafla'ah on several tractates and on the Shulchan Aruch, endowing him with his cognomen "Ba'al HaHafla'ah".
Sefer Chassidim, attributed to Rabbi Yehuda HaChassid, is a basic work on mussar and Jewish customs. The book contains laws and customs, Jewish thought and Mussar according to early Chassidic Kabbalistic Ashkenazi school of thought. This composition remarkably echoes Jewish society in Ashkenazi countries and its relationship with Christian environs during the 12th-13th centuries. This book was printed in many editions and is cited numerous times in Torah literature. In the first passage of the book, the author writes that it is intended "for G-d fearing people, because a pious person who out of his love of G-d, desires to completely fulfill His will… If he would know and understand pious conduct, he would do much… Therefore, Sefer Chassidim was written to enable G-d fearing individuals and all who return to their Creator with their whole being to read it and know and comprehend that which they need to do…".
147 leaves (mispaginated). 18.5 cm. Fair condition. Stains, dampstains. Most leaves in good condition, however, the index leaves at the end of the book are damaged with tears and dampstains. The last three index leaves have coarse open tears. Contemporary endpapers and binding (leather-covered wood). Damages and worming to binding.

Kehillat Ya'akov, guidelines to the Talmud and poskim, by Rabbi Yisrael Ya'akov Algazi. Lemberg [Lvov], 1862. Approbation of R. Chaim Halberstam, Rabbi of Sanz.
Ownership inscription on the front free endpaper (in ink) stating that the book belongs to R. Meshulam Feish, Rabbi of Tosh (Nyirtass): "…Belongs to…Rabbi Meshulem Feish Av Beit Din and Rabbi of Tosh. I, the writer Moshe Efraim -"; followed by Another inscription (in pencil), signed by his grandson R. Moshe Shmuel Rottenberg of Kisvárda (Kleinwardein), who received the book in the estate left by his father, R. Yehosef HaLevi Rabbi of Căuşeni, author of Bnei Shileshim: "Fell into my lot from the estate of my father…R. Y. HaLevi Av Beit Din of Nyirtass, Nyirmada and Căuşeni…Moshe Shmuel R' B. HaLevi, son of the Rabbi of Căuşeni". On verso is a penciled inscription of the index of the book.
R. Meshulam Feish Segal Lowy I, the first Tosh Rebbe (1811-1873), leading Hungarian rebbe, renowned for his holiness and the wonders he performed, was born in Moravia. During his formative years, the Enlightenment movement and Torah abandonment spread throughout Moravia and under the influence of R. Shmuel (Samuel) Freund, a Dayan in Prague, R. Feish traveled to study in Hungarian yeshivas, led by R. Avraham Yitzchak Weinberger, R. Meir Ungvar and by R. Avraham She'ag. After his wedding, he moved to the village of Nyirvasvari (Eshvor) near Nyírbátor [a place famed for its illustrious kabbalists and G-d-fearing Jews whom the Komarno Rabbi would call "Fire and light scholars", a play on the name of the place Esh ("fire" in Hebrew) "v'or" ("and light" in Hebrew)], near his father-in-law, who was a disciple of the Kaliver Rebbe and the Rebbe of Komarno. R. Meshulam Feish was connected to the leading Chassidic Rebbes of Hungary and Galicia: The Rebbe of Liska, the Divrei Chaim of Sanz, the Mohari of Zhydachiv, the Rebbe of Komarno, the Rebbe of Roslavl, etc. His primary rebbe was R. David of Dynow who ordained him as rebbe.
R. Lowy served as Rabbi and Av Beit Din of the city of Nyirtass (near the Kleinwardein [Kisvárda] district) and was renowned for his fiery enthusiasm in G-d's service and prayer. Leading rebbes of his times (R. David of Dynow and R. Asher Anshel Yungreiss of Csenger) sent him people seeking salvation for deliverance by his pure prayers answered in the merit of his Torah learning and his holiness. Tales of the revelation of Ruach HaKodesh in his Beit Midrash are well-known. Reputedly, at the time he danced on Shabbat, he would perform wonders. [see Pe'er Meshulam for many stories about his wonders and the great elevation felt by those who were close to him].
In his senior year, he made a special trip to pray at the gravesite of Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk to merit a son and after his son was born, he named him Elimelech and would fondly call him "the Rebbe R. Elimelech" [this son was orphaned from his father in his babyhood and was raised by his illustrious brother-in-law Rebbe Yehosef Rottenberg, author of Bnei Shileshim. Only in 1908 did he succeed his father as Rabbi of Nyirtass].?In 1873, an epidemic broke out and the rebbe begged G-d to be an atonement for the People of Israel and indeed, his death brought an end to the epidemic. R. Zvi Elimelech of Blozhov, author of Zvi LaTsaddik said that if Rebbe Meshulam Feish would have lived to an old age, he would have conquered "not only Hungary but also Poland…".
The Tosh dynasty continues until our days in Kiryat Tosh in Canada, founded by his great-grandson the Tosh Rebbe Meshulam Feish Segal Lowy II (1922-2015), son of R. Mordechai of Demecser, son of R. Elimelech Rabbi of Tosh and grandson of R. Meshulam Feish Lowy I. ?R. Lowy's eldest son-in-law, R. Yehosef HaLevi Rottenberg, author of Bnei Shileshim (1853-1911), son of the daughter of R. Zvi Hirsh of Zhydachiv and disciple of the Rebbes, author of Divrei Chaim of Sanz and of the author Yitav Lev of Siget. After the death of his father-in-law, he was appointed his successor as Rabbi of Nyirtass and relocated to serve in the Nyirmada rabbinate and in 1894 he moved to Căuşeni (Mezo-Kaszony) in the Russian Carpathians to serve in its rabbinate. He led a holy pure life with much fasting and self-denial (see Tiferet Beit Koson [Căuşeni]).
His son whose signature appears in this book is R. Moshe Shmuel Rottenberg (1872-1946), who was raised together with his uncle of the same age, R. Elimelech of Tosh (1872-1942) in the Rottenberg home. After his marriage to the daughter of Rabbi Ben-Zion Fisch of Borşa, he resided in Kleinwardein and later immigrated to the US and settled in Los Angeles and in NY (see: M. Wunder, Encyclopedia L'Chochmei Galicia, Vol. 4, pp. 831-832).
146, 131 leaves. 25 cm. High-quality paper. Good condition, light wear and stains. Contemporary leather binding, with torn damaged spine.

Three Chassidic and Kabbalistic books bound together:
· Kli HaRo'im, on the book of Ovadya, conduct and compilations. By Rebbe Zvi Elimelech of Dynów. [Lemberg, 1848. First edition].
· Mesillot Chochma, introduction to the Arizal's kabbalah by Rabbi Meir Poppers, with the Ilan HaKadosh commentary of the Maharshal and ways of conduct from the book Totzot Chaim. [Poland-Russia, c. 1830-1850].
· Arba'a Charashim, Chassidic homilies, by Rabbi Aryeh Leib of Łańcut, with "holy ways of conduct" by Rabbi Elimelech of Leżajsk (Lizhensk) "who named them Tzetil Katan". With Ma'amar Shabatot Hashem (second part of Asarah Ma'amarot) by the Rama of Pano, [Lemberg, 1849. First edition, also first edition of the Tzetil Katan of Rabbi Elimelech of Leżajsk author of No'am Elimelech. Printed at the end: "All of this, I have found in a manuscript". Since then, numerous editions of this composition have been printed]. Stefansky Chassidut, no. 64.
On the leaves are many ink and penciled signatures of Rebbe "Zvi Elimelech Shapira", "Z.A.S." who in one place signed "Son of the holy pure rabbi Av Beit Din of Dynów". [Possibly, these are the signatures of Rabbi Zvi Elimelech Shapira of Blozhov, son of the "Holy pure Rabbi" David "Av Beit Din of Dynów"]. Additional signatures of Rabbi "Avraham Chaim Yitzchak - of Ropczyce".
The Blozhov Rebbe Zvi Elimelech Shapira (1841-1924), senior Galician rebbe. Son of R. David of Dynów, author of Tzemach David and grandson of the author of Bnei Yissachar [author of the book Kli HaRo'im]. Son-in-law of R. Moshe Horwitz of Rozwadów grandson of R. Naftali of Ropczyce. From a young age, he was renowned for his spectacular knowledge of the revealed Torah but less known is the fact that he also mastered the difficult Kabbalistic book Brit Kehunat Olam and others. He was a close disciple of R. Chaim of Sanz, author of Divrei Chaim. At the age of 28, he served as Rabbi of Rybotycze and traveled to greet his teacher, author of Divrei Chaim who received him with royal honor and sat him at the head of the table. In the middle of the meal, the Divrei Chaim honored R. Zvi Elimelech and requested that he deliver a Torah discourse. Of course, R. Zvi Elimelech declined to speak in the presence of his revered rebbe and teacher. Upon his leaving, R. Chaim of Sanz accompanied R. Zvi Elimelech until the street and requested that his disciple pray for him (Encyclopedia L'Chassidut, Vol. 3 p. 582). In 1874, he was appointed Rebbe and most of his life he served in the Blozhov rabbinate. One of his first Chassidim was R. Shalom Mordechai HaCohen the Maharsham Rabbi of Berezhany. R. Aharon Roth, author of Shomer Emunin was also counted among his close disciples and was encouraged by R. Zvi Elimelech to establish a Chassidic court although he was not from a family of rebbes. After WWI, he served as Rebbe of Przemyśl and Rzeszów. His Torah teachings were printed in the Zvi LaTsaddik series, halachic responsa and Chassidic homilies on the Torah. Some were printed from manuscripts after the Holocaust by his grandson Rebbe Yisrael Shapira of Blozhov.
15 leaves; 20 leaves; [4], 20 leaves. 18 cm. Good condition. Stains and wear. Ancient, slightly worn binding.
Stefansky Chassidut, no. 242; no. 64.

Sefer Lu'ach Birkat HaNehenin and Seder Netilat Yadayim, by the Admor HaZaken Rebbe Schneur Zalman of Liadi, Ba'al HaTanya. Zholkva, [1801]. The words "In the Shklov community" are enlarged on the title page, whereas the name of the place of printing "Zholkva" is written in small letters.
Second edition printed during the lifetime of the author, based upon the 1800 Shklov edition, which did not survive or was archived by the author. This is the first extant edition.
This is the "Mahadura Kama" which preceded the revised enlarged "Mahadura Batra", printed by the Admor HaZaken, Ba'al HaTanya in his siddur in Shklov 1803, titled Seder Birkot HaNehenin.
Written on the title page of this book: "Brought to print…with accurate editing and with the omissions which appeared in the first editions printed in Shklov". This attests to the fact that this edition was preceded by another which was printed in Shklov. This reference to another edition is concurred by another source - a question presented to the Rebbe, author of Tzemach Tzedek (Tzemach Tzedek responsa, Sha'ar HaMilu'im, Part 3, p. 57) in which the 1800 edition printed in Shklov is mentioned. That edition is not extant. We can only speculate if it was printed by the Rebbe, the Ba'al HaTanya himself or with his permission or perhaps by one of his Chassidim. Possibly it was archived by his order due to its being a Mahadura Kama. The edition offered here was printed at the same time by the Galician publisher R. Ya'akov son of R. Naftali Hertz of Brody, who copied the Shklov edition. He also printed another edition in Lvov (year unknown). These editions have approbations which the publisher acquired with an addition of the title page text and of his own closing passage found on the last page.
[1], 2-27, [1] leaves. 18.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minor wear. Slight worming. New binding.
Stefansky Chassidut, no. 262. See: Liberman, Ohel Rachel, Part 1, NY 1944, p. 144; Mondshine, Sifrei HaHalacha shel Admor HaZaken, NY 1984, p. 202 and onward.

Degel Machane Efraim, a Chassidic composition on the Torah by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Efraim Ashkenazi of Sudilkov, grandson of Rabbi Yisrael the Ba'al Shem Tov. Korets, 1810. First edition.
Approbations by Chassidic leaders: Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdychiv, the Maggid Rabbi Yisrael of Koznitz, Rabbi Ya'akov Yitzchak HaLevi Horwitz "HaChozeh" of Lublin, Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel Rabbi of Apta and others. At the end of the book are "likutim" (compilations) of the Ba'al Shem Tov as well as "the dreams found in the writings of the Holy Rabbi" (one leaf).
An early Chassidic book. This book is one of the first authorized sources of the Torah teachings of the Ba'al Shem Tov which were heard directly by the holy author, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Efraim of Sudilkov (1748-1800), the grandson of the Ba'al Shem Tov, son of his pious daughter Edel. Chassidic leaders greatly praised the holiness of the book and its ability to inspire its reader with fear of Heaven, and as Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdychiv wrote in his approbation to the book: "I promise that this work will stir the hearts of our brothers the People of Yisrael to serve G-d".
[2], 114 leaves. 19.5 cm. Greenish paper. Good-fair condition, stains, worming, wear to margins and restored tears [slightly affecting the text on several leaves]. Professional restoration to all leaves, censor stamp on title page. Inscriptions and signatures, [blurred] gloss on last leaf. New, handsome leather binding.
Stefansky Chassidut, no. 128.