Manuscript, large anthology of practical Kabbalah, amulets, Segulot, incantations and cures. [Eastern Europe, 19th century].

Ashkenazic cursive script. Large anthology, mostly from one scribe, with some leaves from another scribe bound with it. Extensive collection (comprising hundreds of sections) of cures, Segulot and incantations, also containing a cure in the name of the Baal Shem Tov and cures from various other Baalei Shem and folk healers. Segulot and amulets are also cited from early Torah scholars and kabbalists such as Ibn Ezra, Rambam, R. Yehudah HeChasid, the Arizal, R. Naftali Katz and more.
Also contains Segulot and amulets for various matters, some including kabbalistic symbols and illustrations. Some sections are in Yiddish, a few in Russian and Turkish.
Some sections recopied later in the volume.

[252] leaves (new foliation; there is an additional, older numbering, but misfoliated). Several leaves missing. Approx. 17 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains and wear. Tears and open tears, affecting text to several leaves. New binding.

Provenance: Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, EE.011.018.

PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.

Handwritten booklet, Mohel's records. [Halberstadt, Germany], 1767-1783.
Contains inscriptions on 24 circumcisions performed by the Mohel. The first inscription is from 12 Tamuz, 1767, and the last one is from 3 Av, 1783.

On the first page is a title: "Swift like a deer to do the will of our father in heaven…". The word Tzvi (deer) is marked, apparently alluding to the Mohel's name, which may have been Tzvi Hirsch Kohen (see below).
The identification of the Mohel's city as Halberstadt is based on the names appearing in the booklet, primarily R. Leib Eiger, who was dayan and Rabbi of Halberstadt, and is mentioned in about half of the inscriptions. In addition, the booklet mentions names of known people from Halberstadt: "R. Bendit Levi", "R. Zalman Hildesheim", and more.

Other inscriptions mention the fact of the Mohel being a Kohen, and names of his family members. In an inscription from 1777 he mentions circumcising his own son Aharon, for whom the Sandak was "R. Hirsch Keslin" (R. Tzvi Keslin donated a large sum to found a school in Halberstadt which opened in 1795, and was named for him Hazkarat Tzvi). Additional inscription on circumcising his son Eliezer Lipman in Tevet, 1779. In 1768 he mentions circumcising Lipman the son of his brother-in-law R. Feivish Katz. In 1779 he mentions Chaim Zelig the grandson of his brother-in-law R. Pinchas Segal. In 1781 he mentions Pinchas the grandson of his brother-in-law R. Pinchas.

Many of the people mentioned in this booklet are signatories of the "Ordinances for the Circumcision Feast" of the Halberstadt community, 1776, signed by leaders and respected members of the community, also including a signature by "Tzvi Hirsch Kohen". This may be the Mohel who was the author of the present booklet.

R. Yehudah Leib Eiger (d. 1808), son of R. Akiva Eiger, Rabbi of Zülz (Biała) and Pressburg (R. Akiva Eiger the first; 1718-1758), served as Rabbi of Halberstadt for forty years. Uncle of R. Akiva Eiger, Rabbi of Posen (1762-1837). Together with his brother R. Wolf, he published his father's novellae in Mishnat DeRabbi Akiva.

[5] leaves (7 written pages). 15 cm. Fair-good condition. Many dark stains. Wear and a few tears. Disconnected leaves. Missing binding.

PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.

Volume of leaves and draft letters handwritten by R. Shlomo Zalman Braun, Rabbi of Putnok – novellae and other matters. [Putnok, ca. 1850s-1860s]. Hebrew, Yiddish and some German.

Various letters and inscriptions on Torah matters, relating to the rabbinic position, communities and personal matters, including: Letter to R. Yehudah David Rottenberg, Rabbi of Sajószentpéter (author of Tehillah LeDavid), and follow-up inscriptions discussing what he had said; a lengthy Torah letter addressed to "R. Shmuel"; a sharp draft letter to a prominent rabbi (apparently this rabbi had refused to involve himself in some controversy, at which the author expresses disappointment); Yiddish letter to the Shomrei HaDat society; and other draft letters and various inscriptions.

R. Shlomo Zalman Braun, Rabbi of Putnok (1815-1872), disciple of R. Yitzchak Tzvi Margareten, Rabbi of Bükkábrány. Served as first Rabbi of the Putnok community (Gömör province, Hungary).

Some 15 items (containing about 52 written pages). Varying size, between 34.5 cm and 17 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, wear and some tears. New binding.

PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.

Letter on postcard, handwritten and signed by R. Yosef Leib Sofer, Rabbi of Paks. Paks, [Av 1910].
Sent to [the young] R. Yekutiel Yehudah Greenwald during his involvement in the controversy over the forged Talmud Yerushalmi, regarding his correspondence with R. Meir Dan Plotzky. In the letter he relates that R. Plotzky mentioned to him that R. Greenwald had disparaged him, and he asks R. Greenwald his reasons for doing so and subsequently retracting.
R. Yosef Leib (Yehudah) Sofer, Rabbi of Paks (1861-1918), author of Yalkut Sofer, student of the Pressburg yeshiva under the Shevet Sofer, and of the Bonyhád yeshiva under R. Zekel Pollack and his son R. Moshe Pollack.
The recipient of the letter, R. Yekutiel Yehudah Greenwald (1889-1951), studied under R. Shmuel Rosenberg in Unsdorf (Huncovce) and in the Khust yeshiva of Rebbe Moshe Grünwald, the Arugat HaBosem. He published dozens of books and articles on halachah and history of Hungarian Jewry. He immigrated to the United States in 1924 and served as Rabbi in Brooklyn and Columbus.
In an article he published in 1951, he recounts his involvement in the controversy over the forged Talmud Yerushalmi on Kodashim, admitting his childish insolence in his correspondence with R. Meir Dan Plotzky, until R. Yosef Leib Sofer, Rabbi of Paks, reprimanded him for it (see enclosed material).
Postcard. 14 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, including dampstains. Postmarks.

PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.