Five leaves (9 pages) handwritten by R. Elazar Landau descendant of the Gaon of Vilna – leaves from his journal, with transcripts of letters he sent and received, containing much valuable historical information about his life and the history of the publishing of the commentary of the Gaon of Vilna on Order Zera'im of the Jerusalem Talmud, and more.

This journal discloses unknown facts about the life of the writer, R. Elazar Landau, a prominent descendant of the Gaon of Vilna, who immigrated to Eretz Israel in his later years. The letters provide us with a portrayal of R. Elazar as an accomplished individual, a maggid who strived to strengthen Torah study in the towns of Russia, a communal worker and enthusiastic supporter of the Volozhin yeshiva. Likewise, the letters disclose new facts related to the history of the publishing of the commentary of the Gaon of Vilna on Order Zera'im of the Jerusalem Talmud (see Hebrew description). The letters copied into this jouranl are dated 1866-1869. Most of the letters written by R. Elazar are from his stay in Uman (after he left his position as rabbi of Slonim) and two of them were written after he immigrated to Eretz Israel.
New information about the life of R. Elazar Landau
This journal discloses new details about the life of R. Elazar Landau. The letters reveal that after the passing of his first wife (her passing on the seventh day of Pesach 1866 is documented in these letters), R. Elazar remarried, to a woman from Shereshov. His wife apparently refused to immigrate to Eretz Israel, and he therefore immigrated alone. The journal contains a letter written by R. Elazar Landau in 1869, addressed to R. Ben Tzion Sternfeld, rabbi of Shereshov, asking him to convince his wife to accept a get. It is accompanied by another letter, from the rabbis of Jerusalem, asking R. Ben Tzion Sternfeld to take care of the matter.
The letters also give us an idea about R. Elazar's activities to strengthen Torah in Uman and the surroundings. From a letter exchange between R. Avraham son of R. Meir of Minsk, who succeeded R. Elazar as maggid and yeshiva dean in Uman, it appears that R. Elazar founded a yeshiva there, and was tremendously dedicated to that cause.
New information about his activities on behalf of the Volozhin yeshiva
The letters transcribed in this journal also provide insight on R. Elazar Landau's activities on behalf of the Volozhin yeshiva, in Uman and the surrounding in Ukraine, together with the emissary of the Volozhin yeshiva – R. David Haufenberg, who was staying at the time in Kiev (and later became his son-in-law).
In one letter to R. David Haufenberg, R. Elazar asks him to send letters to seven towns about supporting the Volozhin yeshiva, and to instruct them to copy his letters into their Pinkas so that they should remain as constant reminder. In another letter, he informs R. David that in the town of Balta, they have distributed many Tzedaka boxes for Volozhin. In his letter to the Netziv of Volozhin, he writes that despite his sorrow over the passing of his wife, he will continue devoting himself to the yeshiva. In a different letter to R. David Haufenberg, he writes that his letter to Berditchev were effective in engendering support for the Volozhin yeshiva.
For a detailed list of the letters transcribed in this journal, see Hebrew description.
R. Elazar Landau (1812-1874), son of R. Yaakov Moshe of Slonim (1780-1849), son of R. Avraham, son of the Gaon of Vilna (Landau was his mother's maiden name). For most of his life, he served as rabbi of Slonim in place of his father, and continued his father's activities of distributing and publishing the works of the Gaon of Vilna from manuscripts. He copied and arranged works from the teachings of the Gaon of Vilna, and expended much effort to publish the commentary of the Gaon of Vilna on Order Zera'im of the Jerusalem Talmud (see Hebrew description). In ca. 1860, he left Slonim and travelled to Uman, Ukraine. In autumn 1868, he immigrated to Eretz Israel, where he was received with great honor and became one of the respected members of the community of the disciples of the Gaon of Vilna in Jerusalem. A leaf handwritten by R. Elazar Landau, with a section of a letter in which he describes his immigration to Eretz Israel, was auctioned at Kedem in 2009 (Auction 4). That leaf was, presumably, part of the present journal.
R. Elazar remarried in Jerusalem (from this journal, it appears that this was his third marriage), to Batya Breina daughter of R. Ze'ev Wolfensohn (a prominent member of the community of the disciples of the Gaon of Vilna in Jerusalem). R. Elazar passed away suddenly in 1874, leaving behind his wife and son R. Eliyahu Landau, who was only a half a year old at that time.

[5] leaves (9 written pages). Approx. 34 cm. Good condition. Stains and wear. Worming, slightly affecting several characters.

Collection of notebooks and leaves handwritten by R. Eliyahu Landau, descendant of the Gaon of Vilna, historical and genealogical research on the Gaon of Vilna and generations of his descendants, and on his disciples and prominent Torah scholars belonging to his school of thought. [Eretz Israel, ca. early 20th century].
The collection includes:
• Two notebooks and large sheets of paper with lists of names (in alphabetical order) of descendants of the family of the Gaon of Vilna (men and women), disciples of the Gaon of Vilna and their disciples. These lists include many facts, such as dates of birth and death, various biographic details and references to biography books (Ir Vilna, Kiryah Ne'emana, and more).
• Notebook with the family trees of the sons and grandsons of the Gaon of Vilna.
• Two notebooks, one with the epitaphs and the other with biographies of various figures – the Gaon of Vilna and his descendants, the disciples of the Gaon of Vilna and Lithuanian Torah scholars.
• Notes and other drafts related to this study.
These notebooks and leaves were presumably written in preparation for a book on the history of the family of the Gaon of Vilna and his disciples. No such work was ultimately published.
This historical material reveals unknown facts about the Gaon of Vilna, his family and the printing of his books (R. Shlomo Gottesman refers to this manuscript in his article Biography of R. Yaakov Moshe of Slonim, Yeshurun, V, 1999, pp. 118-136; see note 5 and throughout the article). See item 63.
Notebooks, leaves and pieces of paper in various sizes, altogether some 100 written pages. Size and condition vary. Stains, tears and wear.
Provenance: The Yeshayahu Vinograd Collection, Jerusalem.

Mikdash Melech, commentary on the Zohar, Part III (Vayikra), by R. Shalom Buzaglo. Amsterdam, [1752]. First edition.
Copy of the kabbalist R. Moshe Shlomo of Tolochin, disciple of the Gaon of Vilna, with dozens of his handwritten kabbalistic glosses, some lengthy. Most of the glosses appear in the margins; the particularly lengthy glosses were written on the blank leaves at the beginning of the book (four handwritten pages). The glosses were never published.
Some of the glosses are signed with initials: "N.L.M.Sh." = so it seems to me, Moshe Shlomo.
In one of the lengthy glosses at the beginning of the book, R. Moshe Shlomo mentions his teacher the Gaon of Vilna: " And see in the writings of my teacher R. E. of Vilna in the commentary on…".
R. Moshe Shlomo son of R. Yitzchak of Tolochin, a maggid in Vilna and an outstanding kabbalist, a disciple-colleague of the Gaon of Vilna in Kabbalah and the one who arranged his kabbalistic writings. In the list of their father's prominent disciples in the foreword to Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim, the sons of the Gaon of Vilna rank R. Shlomo of Tolochin as the fifth. They relate that their father taught him Zohar and Sefer Yetzirah, and explained to him anything he found difficult in the writings of the disciples of the Arizal. They also mention that there were teachings the Gaon of Vilna did not reveal to him, and that the Gaon later regretted this, saying that R. Shlomo was exceptionally G-d fearing from youth. R. Avraham Danzig, author of Chayei Adam, attested that R. Moshe Shlomo was extremely well versed in Kabbalah, to the extent that the Gaon of Vilna declared him fitting to be taught Torah secrets.
R. Moshe Shlomo was an outstanding kabbalist even before coming to Vilna. After he began studying under the Gaon of Vilna, he became his close disciple in kabbalah, meriting to receive oral teachings from him, to the point that R. Shmuel Luria, who published his book Shaar HaShirim (Warsaw 1890), called him "a disciple-colleague of the Gaon of Vilna in Kabbalah". Apart from being one of the closest disciples of the Gaon of Vilna, he was very active in disseminating his teachings, transcribing the writings of the Gaon of Vilna on kabbalah from the original manuscripts, arranging them and complementing them with his glosses. In fact, there is almost no composition by the Gaon of Vilna on Kabbalah to which he did not add his notes.
One of the prominent works of the Gaon of Vilna on Kabbalah is the book Hadrat Kodesh, which was compiled and arranged by R. Moshe Shlomo. This work is the source of kabbalistic teachings brought in the name of the Gaon of Vilna in many books. It was recently published based on a manuscript by R. Dovid Kamenetzky (Mossad HaRav Kook, Jerusalem 2014; see introduction there, see also: R. Dovid Kamenetzky, Torat HaGra, pp. 605 onwards).
Most of the teachings of R. Moshe Shlomo remain in manuscript. His book Shaar HaShirim – songs for meals of Shabbat and festivals (part of a larger manuscript which was lost), was printed in Warsaw, 1890. His supercommentary to the commentary of the Gaon of Vilna on Chad Gadya was printed at the end of the Passover Haggadah, Jerusalem 1863 (see item 151). For more information about R. Moshe Shlomo of Tolochin, see: R. Dovid Kamenetzky, Torat HaGra, pp. 712-714; R. Dovid Kamenetzky, R. Moshe Shlomo of Tolochin – Disciple-Colleague of the Gaon of Vilna, Yeshurun, 29, 2013, pp. 831-840.
[1], 183 leaves (lacking first title page and leaf of approbations) + 4 handwritten leaves. Fair condition. Stains. Detached leaves and gatherings (including handwritten leaves at beginning of book). Binding damaged, with loss.

Mevo She'arim by R. Chaim Vital. Korets, [1783]. First edition.
Copy from the Beit Midrash of R. Binyamin Rivlin, disciple of the Gaon of Vilna. Stamps of the Beit Midrash (two different versions) on the title page and other leaves: "Stamp of the Beit Midrash of R. Binyamin – Shklow", "From the Beit Midrash of R. Binyamin of Shklow".
Handwritten ownership inscription extending over many leaves: " Belongs to the Beit Midrash of R. Shlomo son of R. Binyamin son of R. Zalman of Shklow".
R. Binyamin son of R. Shlomo Zalman Rivlin (Riveles) of Shklow (1728-1812/1813), author of Gevii Gevia HaKesef. Head of the prominent Rivlin family. An associate of the Gaon of Vilna and his relative (descendant of R. Moshe Rivkes author of Be'er HaGolah). A leading Torah scholar of Shklow, and a pillar of the community. He founded, together with his colleague R. Yehoshua Zeitlin, a yeshiva for brilliant Torah scholars in the city, "he advanced the city of Shklow and its Torah scholars by transmitting the light of his teacher the Gaon of Vilna" (for further information about him, see Hebrew description).
His grandson, R. Shlomo Zalman son of R. Hillel Rivlin, author of Divrei Shlomo (Warsaw 1868-1880), a leading Torah scholar in Shklow and a great Lithuanian Torah leader, a disciple of R. Menashe of Ilya and the prime teacher of R. David Friedman of Karlin.
[1], 118 leaves. 19 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Wear and tears. Leaves trimmed with damage to headings. Worming, slightly affecting text. Binding detached and damaged.
Provenance: The Yeshayahu Vinograd Collection, Jerusalem.