Yashresh Yaakov, on the topic of Hebrew grammar in prayer texts, and a polemic regarding the widespread errors in the printed siddurim, by R. Yaakov Babani of Safed. "Nuremberg" [Altona, 1768].
The date of printing on the title page is 5528 (1768), but the approbations are dated Kislev 5529. The book contains the approbations of R. Yaakov ben Avraham (Yechizkiah) Basan, the Sephardi rabbi of Hamburg, and R. David of Berlin, the Ashkenazi rabbi of the Altona, Hamburg and Wandsbek communities.
The author mentioned on the title page is R. Yaakov Babani, emissary of Safed, who resided in Hamburg in 1768 (see Yaari, Emissaries of Eretz Israel, pp. 449-450). However, it is evident from the book itself that it was written by a different author. This was noted by the Chida, who writes that the true author paid R. Yaakov Babani to be cited as author. See Chida, Yosef Ometz (Livorno, 1788, section 10): "R. Yaakov Babani, who is cited as the author of the Yashresh Yaakov pamphlet, is not the true author. The truth is that a different grammarian, who was afraid to use his own name, paid R. Yaakov Babani to be cited as author". R. Binyamin Espinoza also made the same point in his Yesod HaKiyum, where he wrote that R. Yaakov Babani was not the true author, but rather "an anonymous author… who is hiding behind him [R. Yaakov Babani]… as we have heard from those who speak the truth" (Yesod HaKiyum by R. Binyamin Espinoza of Tunis and Livorno, printed in 1772 to counteract this work. Printed recently from the manuscript: Kiryat Sefer, 2005).
Most rabbis and researchers (including R. Chananel Neppi, R. M. S. Ghirondi, Shadal, Ben-Yaakov, Friedberg) posit that the true author is the poet R. Avraham Yechizkiah Basan, father of the first approbator of the book. However, the editors of the republished volume, "Yashresh Yaakov – Yesod HaKiyum" (Kiryat Sefer, 2005), argue in their introduction that the true author was R. Yaakov Basan himself, who wrote an approbation to his own work. R. Yaakov Basan was the rabbi of the Sephardi community in Hamburg, and previously a scholar in Amsterdam. He was the proofreader and printer of Mesillat Yesharim (Amsterdam, 1740), whose author, Ramchal, describes him as "a man after my own heart… my rabbi and teacher… the great R. Yaakov ben Avraham Basan, may his light shine".
This work was sharply criticized by many Torah scholars and leaders who did not approve of the author's suggested changes to the accepted Hebrew grammar and pronunciation. The first to write a composition refuting this work was R. Binyamin Espinoza, a scholar of Tunis and Livorno (died 1776). His work "Yesod HaKiyum" (1772) refutes each claim and proof of "Yashresh Yaakov". The Chida dedicated Responsa 10 in his work "Yosef Ometz" against this work, and writes "when Yashresh Yaakov was published the great scholar and grammarian R. Binyamin Espinoza was still alive… and he wrote the great work Yesod HaKiyum for the honor and glory of G-d's name. This work rebuts the theories of Yashresh Yaakov, and R. Binyamin wrote that it is not to be relied upon…".
Several corrections in Sephardic Rashi script (possibly by the author himself).
39 leaves. 16.5 cm. High-quality paper. Good-fair condition. Stains. Slight damage to the inner margins of leaves 3-4. Early binding, half parchment.
328. ספר אור הישר - אמשטרדם, תקכ"ט - הפולמוס על כשרות "הגט מקליווא" - הקדשה עצמית על קבלת הספר מאת עורך הספר רבי שמעון מקופנהגן
ספר אור הישר, שאלות ותשובות, פסקים וכתבים משנות תקכ"ו-תקכ"ח אודות שאלת "הגט מקליווא". בעריכת רבי אהרן שמעון מקופנהגן ובון, "סופר ונאמן דמדינת קלוניא". אמשטרדם, [תקכ"ט 1769]. מהדורה ראשונה.
מאמרים רבים נכתבו על פולמוס אותו הגט, שנעשה ע"י רבי ישראל ליפשיץ רבה של קליווא. היה זה ויכוח הלכתי נרחב שהרעיש את העולם היהודי באותו דור, והיו מעורבים בו גדולי הרבנים מארצות שונות. בספר שלפנינו התפרסמו תשובות מגדולי אותו הדור על דיני הגט. תשובות שהפכו לנכסי צאן ברזל של הפסיקה ההלכתית בבתי הדין במשך כל הדורות.
בדף שלפני השער רישום בעלות והקדשה עצמית על קבלת הספר מאת המחבר: "זה הספר אור הישר ניתן לי במתנה גמורה מן... כהר"ר שמעון קאפינהגן מבאן במדינת קלוני'. הק' זעליג ב"ה הירץ סגל מליפ[---]" [רבי זליג ב"ר הירץ פיידל מליפשטאט, ווסטפליה]. בשער הספר רישום בעלות נוסף: "מגן הוא לכל החותי"ם בו, הק' אהרן שע"וו בה"ר מנחם חריף, תקנטי"ת לפ"ק". בדפי הבטנה שבסוף הספר רישום חידה בכתב יד: "אם תרצה לידע את שמי קח ראש של לויתן ותחברהו אל ראש של אניה, ובזה תוכל לידע את שמי, אשריך אם תבין את החידה...".
[7], קיא, [1] דף. 18 ס"מ. מצב טוב. כתמים ומעט בלאי. נקבי עש בודדים. כריכה ישנה.

Printed leaf containing an appeal for the community of Zülz, Silesia after its synagogue burnt down. With a Signature of R. Koppel, son of R. Yona, Dayan in Zülz. [Breslau?, Silesia (today Poland)], Cheshvan 1769.
The leaf begins with a report of the fire in Zülz, which consumed the synagogue and some of the Jewish houses. It continues with the community leaders' request to send donations to R. Yitzchak Yosef Teomim, Rabbi of Breslau and Silesia.
The date 17th Cheshvan 1769 is printed at the end of the leaf, followed by the printed signatures of the rabbi of Zülz, R. Tzvi Hirsh son of R. Avraham, and another ten of the town's dayanim and community leaders. A handwritten signature was added close to the printed signatures: "Koppel son of R. Yona, dayan of this community". An additional section was printed subsequently with a further appeal from the Breslau community, dated 24th Cheshvan 1769, followed by the printed signatures of respected members of the Breslau community. Heading the list of signees is "Yitzchak Yosef son of the great Torah scholar R. Chaim Yona Teomim, rabbi of [Breslau] and Silesia". At the foot of this section, a handwritten signature was added: "Moshe son of R. Uri Shraga Veibish, community leader of the province, with the consent of the other community leaders".
The verso of the leaf contains inscriptions in Hebrew and German (the leaf was presumably folded and sent by post).
[1] leaf, [2] pages. 43X34 cm. Good condition. Thick paper. Stains and wear. Folding marks. Remnants of wax seals.

Proclamation to the Jewish community, issued by the "Assembly of Jewish Notables, citizens of France and Italy", in preparation for the Grand Sanhedrin. Paris, October 6, 1806. Hebrew and French, on facing columns.
Printed proclamation, addressing "Our brethren, Adat Yeshurun", issued by the Assembly of Notables of the Jewish communities of France and Italy, to encourage participation in the Grand Sanhedrin.
The proclamation depicts at length the great importance of the "Sanhedrin of Paris", and the glory of Napoleon, their imperial protector.
On May 30, 1806, following a wave of antisemitism which hit the Alsace-Lorraine region, the Emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, gathered an assembly of notables, rabbis and Jewish community leaders of France and Italy. Twelve questions were presented before the assembly to assess their identification with the French Empire, and particularly to determine whether Jewish law contradicts French Law. The responses, which expressed the Jewish people's connection to France, satisfied Napoleon, who wished to give these answers judicial validity and use them as the basis for the legislation of the Jews' status. He therefore convened another, exclusive assembly, of rabbis and Jewish notables - the "Grand Sanhedrin". The Sanhedrin authorized the conclusions of the Assembly and thereby allegedly gave them halachic validity.
The Bibliography of the Hebrew Book lists copies of this proclamation with Italian and German translations only, and does not list a French translation. The catalogue of the NLI also only contains copies in these two languages.
[4] pages (sheet folded in two). 35.5 cm. Good condition. Light stains. Folding marks and creases.