"Seder Hotzaot Sefer Torah L'Shabbat V'Yom Tov" (prayers recited upon removal of the Torah scroll from the Holy Ark on Shabbat and Festivals) – large broadside meant to be hung in a synagogue, handwritten and hand-decorated in color by Leibu Goldfarb. [Germany or Austria, 1886].
Border decorated with foliate and floral motifs, fowl and lions. Colored with watercolors and gold ink. The name of the artist, Leibu Goldfarb, and the year 1886 (in a chronogram) are written on bottom center.
A large heading on top, written in gold ink in Ashkenazic calligraphic script, reads "Seder Hotzaot Sefer Torah L'Shabbat V'Yom Tov". The broadside features prayers recited upon opening the Holy Ark to remove the Torah on Shabbat and festivals. A Yiddish prayer appears at bottom left corner. A short German prayer (in Gothic letters), beginning with the words: "O Gott, gib uns Sühnung an den heiligen Tagen...",  appears beneath the Hebrew text.
64X97 cm. Good-fair condition. Dampstains. Some faded letters. Folding marks. Tears along the folding marks, at the margins and elsewhere, some repaired.

An impressive Torah Shield, decorated with architectural pillars and a large crown. Nuremberg, early 19th century.
Silver (marked "13", "N" and "GL") repouseé, stamped, punched and engraved; rivets and appliqué.
A shield featuring both engraved and three-dimensional elements. Central stylized seven-branched Menorah, made of oval knobs and lotus-like flowers, engraved on the backdrop of a geometrical tile pattern. Engraved between the stems of the Menorah are the Tablets of the Law with a short version of the Ten Commandments. The lower part of the shield features an open rectangular window designed for displaying a plaque engraved with the name of the present Jewish holiday. A hinged back door behind the window creates a space containing two such two-sided plaques, for marking the holidays of Sukkot, Passover, Shavuot and Sabbath. An engraved oak-leaf coronet to lowest center, surrounding a dedicatory inscription in memory of the donor: "Menachem known as Mendl Trost, son of Rabbi Yaakov" (Hebrew). Hung with three bells.
The general design of the shield is of an architectural façade with a pair of spiral pillars seated on cubic plinths with rosettes and supporting an arch. The pillars represent the pair of copper pillars – the Boaz and Jachin Pillars, which stood at the entrance to the First Temple. The pillars are surmounted by a pair of lions with a double, crossed tail, as in the coat of arms of Bavaria, where Nuremberg is located. The lions, crowned with a royal crown and facing center, flank a large and impressive Torah crown composed of a half-circlet and five arches, with an inner hoop meant to be hung with a bell (missing). With three thick-linked chains gathered by a large hoop.
The earliest royal crowns we know of in Jewish art, appearing as early as the 13th century, are usually based on the crown type used in the close vicinity of Jews. In this case, the large Torah crown on the top of the shield as well as the small crowns on the lions' heads are a variation of the crown prototype of the Holy Roman Emperor.
21.5X32.5 cm. Good condition. Bends. Loss along right edge. A bell is missing from the crown. A late inscription reading "381002" engraved on verso.

Long letter (3 large pages), handwritten and signed by R. Eliyahu Guttmacher, Rabbi of Greiditz. Sivan 1872. Enclosed is an amulet note with yichudim of the ten sefirot in his handwriting (square script).
Letter containing halachic and kabbalistic responsa sent to R. Netanel Weil (1818-1892), a rabbi in Karlsruhe and descendant of the author of Korban Netanel, regarding the procedures surrounding the establishment of a new cemetery in his city, including explicit instructions how to sanctify the new location with specific prayers, encirclements and kabbalistic yichudim. R. Eliyahu explains the kabbalistic background of these prayers, encirclements and yichudim at length, as well as their effectiveness in protecting from harmful beings (mazikim). He also refers to the enclosed note and writes that one should have in mind the yichudim written in the note.
Further in the letter, R. Eliyahu Guttmacher writes about the societies which collect funds for the settlers in Eretz Israel and notes that those who participate in these societies earn a share of the Torah study in Eretz Israel and a share in Jerusalem.
The enclosed amulet note is arranged in ten lines. R. Eliyahu refers to the meaning of the ten lines in his letter, concluding with words of blessing: "…It is arranged in ten lines, which correspond to the ten sefirot, the ten galgalim, the ten maamarot with which the world was created, and the ten commandments – the merit of all of these shall be with you".
The present letter was printed (with slight variations) in R. Eliyahu Guttmacher’s book of responsa (Aderet Eliyahu, part I, Jerusalem 1984, Yoreh Deah, chapter 124, see enclosed material). However, the amulet with the yichudim does not appear there, nor does the end of the letter regarding the virtue of the participants in the societies for the settlers in Eretz Israel.
R. Eliyahu Guttmacher Rabbi of Greiditz (1796-1875), disciple of R. Akiva Eger, served as rabbi of Pleschen (Pleszew) until ca. 1840, at which time he moved to Greiditz to serve as rabbi, while his eldest son R. Tzvi Hirsh succeeded him as rabbi of Pleschen. Famed as a holy kabbalist, in his senior years his name spread throughout the Jewish world as a wonder-worker. Amazing stories were told of the great miracles and salvations attained through the blessings of "der Greiditzer Tzaddik" (the Tzaddik of Greiditz), "and people came from all countries to seek his blessings and prayers, each one according to his needs" (Igrot Sofrim, at the foot of letter 29).
R. Eliyahu Guttmacher was very active on behalf of Eretz Israel Jewry, and founded a yeshiva in Jerusalem named Chevrat Sukkat Shalom and Meor Yaakov. This yeshiva was established in the Shenot Eliyahu Beit Midrash which was located in R. Eliyahu Guttmacher’s courtyard in Jerusalem, purchased by his trustee R. Yaakov Mordechai Hirschensohn. R. Eliyahu financed the yeshiva until his final days. In addition, together with R. Tzvi Hirsch Kalischer, he was a leading member of the Chevrat Yishuv Eretz Israel society, founded in Frankfurt in 1860. The goal of this society was to increase agricultural Jewish settlement in Eretz Israel, by redeeming the land from non-Jews and settling instead Jewish farmers, who would work it, be sustained by it, and perform mitzvot pertaining to it. These two rabbis propagated this idea extensively in their books, writings, letters and sermons. They prove repeatedly in their books that these activities bring the Redemption closer and awaken Heavenly mercy and salvation.
After R. Eliyahu’s eldest son, R. Tzvi Hirsh Rabbi of Pleschen, died in his lifetime childless (in 1871), he published his son’s books Nachalat Tzvi and Ken Meforeshet (Lviv, 1873). In the introduction to Ken Meforeshet, R. Eliyahu promises: "If someone seeks deliverance from G-d… he should study a Mishnah with the Rav (Bartenura), Tosafot Yom Tov and my son’s commentary and then stand and pray in any language… detailing his request so he will be answered…".
[1] double leaf (3 written pages): 28.5 cm + enclosed note: 8X9.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Tears to folds, affecting text. Worming affecting text.

Large, impressive collection of more than 30 editions of the book Noam Elimelech by R. Elimelech of Lizhensk, one of the fundamental works of Chassidic teachings. Earliest edition: Polonne, [1804] – the fourth edition.
This collection contains all the editions of the book published in the 19th century and several editions from the first half of the 20th century.
List of editions:
• Polonne, [1804]. Fourth edition. Stefansky Chassidut, no. 377.
• Polonne [1814]. Fifth edition. Stefansky Chassidut, no. 378. (This copy has [105] leaves. The Bibliography of the Hebrew Book lists only [104] leaves).
• Hrubieszów, 1817. Sixth edition. Two variant copies. The title page of one copy is printed in black and red. The place of printing and part of the name of the printer were omitted in the other copy (this copy lacks 2 leaves in the middle – 47-48). Stefansky Chassidut, no. 379.
• [Russia-Poland, ca. 1820]. Seventh edition, false name of author. This is the first edition of Hanhagot HaAdam by R. Elimelech of Lizhensk. Due to the falsification, it has erroneously been attributed to R. Yechiel Michel of Złoczów. Stefansky Chassidut, no. 380.
• [Russia-Poland, ca. 1820]. A different edition than the previous one.
• 14 editions printed in Lemberg (Lviv) from 1849 to 1875.
• Two editions printed in Warsaw, in 1880 and ca. 1890. • Krakow, 1896. • Warsaw, 1901. • Podgórze, 1904. • Warsaw, 1908. • Warsaw, [1922?] (the year on the title page is 5682 [=1922] – such an edition is not recorded in the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book; this is a stereotype edition, possibly printed after 1922). • Lublin, 1926. • Krakow, 1932. • Jerusalem, [ca. 1935]. • Mukachevo, [1940]. • New York, [1942].
Enclosed:
• 6 leaves of the Shklow 1790 edition (second edition; Stefansky Chassidut, no. 375). Leaves 51-52, 55-56, 79-80 (leaf 80 is marked 75).
• Title page of the Polonne 1804 edition.
• Last leaf of the Lviv 1849 edition (with "Secrets by the kabbalist sage… Yosef Gikatilla").
Noam Elimelech was one of the first Chassidic books, and is considered until this day to be one of the fundamental works of Chassidut. The book contains the essential part of the teachings of R. Elimelech of Lizhensk on Chassidut, purity of thought and attachment to G-d. R. Elimelech had five disciples, who disseminated Chassidut to the Jewish people: the Chozeh of Lublin, the Maggid of Kozhnitz, R. Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of Apta, R. Izek of Kaliv and R. Mendel of Rymanów.
Since its publishing, the book was deemed sacred by all, to the extent that the author's disciple R. Mendel of Rymanów stated that only on Friday after immersing in honor of Shabbat is one able to grasp a little of the pure and lofty thoughts it contains. The Maggid of Kozhnitz would not welcome the Shabbat before he had studied his teacher's book (Encyclopedia L'Chassidut, I, p. 236). He would say that R. Elimelech would appear – after his passing – to his disciple R. Naftali of Ropshitz, to teach him Noam Elimelech (Igra Debei Hilulei, Ashdod 1999, p. 250). The Divrei Chaim of Sanz once remarked that he could compose a commentary on the Noam Elimelech just like the Beit Yosef did on the Tur, since it contained such profundity (Igra Debei Hilulei, Ashdod 1999, p. 235). Rebbe Eliezer of Dzikov once saw in a dream a house full of books, about which he was told that one book was the Noam Elimelech, and all the other books the house was filled with were commentaries to the Noam Elimelech (Ohel Elimelech, p. 80, section 193). R. Izek of Kaliv, after writing several hundreds of papers of commentary to the Noam Elimelech, heard a Divine Voice asking how he had the audacity to write a commentary to the Noam Elimelech, of which even angels and other celestial beings struggle to understand even one word or letter (Ohel Elimelech, p. 80, section 194).
Many keep the book as a segulah, and some special miniature format editions were published to serve as amulets for protection and success. Many put it at the head of an ill person as a segulah and protection, for a speedy recovery and to be saved from any misfortune. This book is known to be a segulah for women experiencing difficult labor (several Jewish hospitals throughout the world have a Noam Elimelech placed in a velvet pouch in the delivery rooms as segulah for easy births). This segulah is already mentioned in Shulchan Melachim by R. Moshe Tzvi Landau of Kleinwardein, who writes in the laws pertaining to women giving birth: "And the custom of placing a holy book wrapped in a cloth under the head of a women in labor has already become widespread – and the custom is to place the book Noam Elimelech and Or HaChochma" (pp. 38b-39a, Beregsaz 1931 edition).
32 books and another 8 leaves. Size and condition vary.