Letter from R. Baruch Ber Leibowitz, dean of the Knesset Beit Yitzchak yeshiva in Kamenets. [Kamenets], 25 Tishrei, 1932.
Letter in Yiddish addressed to the Feigin family of Philadelphia, United States. R. Baruch Ber showers them with blessings, thanking them for their generous support of the yeshiva, and mentions that on the first day of Sukkot, the yeshiva commemorated the yahrzeit of Devorah daughter of R. Moshe, as per the yeshiva regulations.
The letter, which is typewritten for the most part, concludes with six lines of warm, heartfelt blessings, handwritten and signed by the yeshiva dean, R. Baruch Ber Leibowitz: "…I wish to bless you along with your wife, the righteous woman; may she live for many good, long years. May God grant you long life full of satisfaction and bless your business with all blessings and success.… and may you merit to soon see the salvation of Israel and hear the footsteps of Mashiach. Blessing and honoring him, Baruch Dov Leibovitz, dean of the Beit Yitzchak yeshiva".

R. Baruch Dov (Ber) Leibowitz (1864-1939), author of Birkat Shmuel, leading Torah disseminator in his times. He was a disciple of R. Chaim of Brisk in the Volozhin yeshiva, and the son-in-law of R. Avraham Yitzchak Zimmerman, Rabbi of Hlusk. After his father-in-law went to serve as rabbi of Kremenchuk, he succeeded him in Hlusk and established a yeshiva. After a 13-year tenure, he was asked to head the Knesset Beit Yitzchak yeshiva in Slabodka. During World War I, he wandered with the yeshiva to Minsk, Kremenchuk and Vilna, finally settling in Kamenets. He authored Birkat Shmuel on Talmudic topics. His teachings and writings are classics of in-depth yeshiva Torah study.

[2] leaves, official stationery. 29 cm. Good condition. Stains and folds.

Two letters of guidance for studying Torah and strengthening in fear of G-d, by R. Shmuel David HaLevi Ungar, Rabbi of Trnava and Nitra:

· Letter handwritten and signed by R. Ungar, with blessings and guidance. [Trnava, ca. 1930].
Sent to one of the Trnava yeshiva students who was to travel with his family on vacation in Elul, writing to him with encouragement and guidance:
"Greetings and blessing to my beloved student. I received your message; and if you believe it is necessary to breathe fresh air in order to strengthen your body to serve G-d and study diligently, go to your dear parents' home for a few weeks. And I would be delighted if you would return to Trnava for the upcoming holy days… And even in the spas, study Torah regularly, especially books of ethics and fear of G-d, since the holy days are coming soon, and we must search and delve after every defect and pray with more concentration and intensity than all the rest of the year. Also study the timely issues in Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim: the laws of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. Also study Gemara regularly. Peace and blessing to you, my beloved, and also to my dear friend your father… Your faithful teacher, Shmuel David HaLevi Ungar".

[1] leaf. 21.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Creases and folding marks. Open tear and filing holes (not affecting text).

· Letter on postcard, typewritten with handwritten signature "Shmuel David HaLevi Ungar", with three additional handwritten lines after the signature. Nitra, 1937.
Sent to one of his students in the Nitra yeshiva who immigrated to Eretz Israel and settled in the Chafetz Chaim kibbutz, writing to him with encouragement and guidance:
"…Do valiant deeds with the strength of the Torah with wisdom, for the air of Eretz Israel makes one wise. And this is the wisdom of those living in the Land: trying to comprehend how a person's domain on the ground and G-d's domain in the study hall are one and the same, indivisible and inseparable". He writes to his student regarding his involvement in public affairs: "And now, my beloved, that you have merited to bring merit to others along with you and accept communal responsibility, be careful not to cool off the extreme heat that you heated up in the Beit Midrash with the candle of the mitzvot and the light of the Torah – and 'cooling off' [poshrin] means nothing but compromise [pesharot]… And this is an important principle in all communal work, and especially in Eretz Israel, where there are now, due to our many sins, so many confused opinions… And there is no end to the reward of one standing at the breach with wisdom, knowledge and intelligence. I would greatly desire to know even the most minute details of what you are doing there all day, and especially of your service, my beloved…".
On the verso of the postcard is a short letter of greetings, handwritten and signed by the son of the Rabbi of Nitra, "Chaim Yedidyah HaLevi".

[1] postcard. 14.5 cm. Good condition. Filing holes, slightly affecting printed text.

R. Shmuel David HaLevi Ungar (1886-1945), Rabbi of Trnava and Nitra and Chief Rabbi of Slovakia. Righteous Torah scholar who taught thousands of disciples for 40 years, and had fatherly dedication in teaching his students Torah and fear of G-d. In 1918 he was appointed Rabbi of Trnava, establishing an important yeshiva. When the small Trnava community could no longer support the many students flocking to his yeshiva, he relocated in 1931 to serve as Rabbi of Nitra, whose community accepted the responsibility to provide for the yeshiva. During the Holocaust, the Nitra yeshiva was the last one in occupied Europe to close its doors. After the yeshiva was abandoned, he escaped to the forests and mountains where he perished in 1945. During the Holocaust he acted with dedication to rescue and smuggle Jews out of the camps, along with his son-in-law R. Michael Dov Weissmandl, a dean of the Nitra yeshiva and founder of the Nitra yeshiva in the United States.
His daughter Rebbetzin Chayah Nechamah married Rebbe Yekutiel Yehudah Halberstam of Klausenburg after the Holocaust, and she is the forebear of the current Sanz-Klausenburg rebbes and rabbis. His son R. Chaim Yedidyah HaLevi Ungar (disciple of R. Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky) perished in Auschwitz. His son R. Shalom Moshe HaLevi Ungar survived the Holocaust and established the Nitra yeshiva in the United States along with his brother-in-law R. Weissmandl.

Abudarham, commentary on blessings and prayers, and explanations and laws of prayer, by R. David Abudarham (Avudraham). [Ushbuna (Lisbon): Eliezer Toledano, 1489]. First edition. Incunabulum.
Printed in two columns, in "Rashi script" (Sephardic). The initial panels and titles are printed in large, square script. Diagrams of the Temple altar are printed on leaves [23] and [24].
On the margins of p. [44a] appears a handwritten addition, in Sephardic semi-cursive script (the inscription is faded and affected by trimming with loss), with a commentary on the blessing against the heretics ("VelaMeshumadim"), which does not appear in the main text of the book. This commentary on the blessing against heretics is also omitted in the manuscripts of Abudarham, and it survives only in a single manuscript (MS Turin A II 29), based on which it was published in the anthology Tzefunot by R. David Yitzchaki (see: Tzefunot, I [5789], 4, pp. 17-20). The text of the present addition is identical to what is published there.
Glosses and corrections in Sephardic script on leaf [96]. Censorship expurgations (some by scraping the words) and handwritten corrections to several leaves.

First edition of Abudarham, a foundational work of commentary on the prayers and their meanings. The original name of the book is "Commentary on the Blessings and Prayers", but the book is best known as Abudarham (Avudraham), after its author R. David Abudarham, a famous Spanish rabbi in the 14th century and one of the great rishonim. In his book, the author selected commentaries on prayers and related laws from the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds, the writings of the Geonim and from writings of many early Torah scholars, including R. Elazar of Worms (the Rokeach), R. Asher of Lunel; the Ri Migash and others. The book contains, among other matters, the texts of prayers and various rare customs of Spanish Jewry, which are almost unknown from other sources. The work is divided into three general sections ("gates") – the first explaining the Shema, the second explaining the prayers, and the third explaining the blessings over commandments. The book also contains a detailed explanation of calendrical issues and the structure of the Jewish calendar (this part is missing in the present copy).
The author's name, Abudarham, has been explained in several ways. Some claim that the name "father of the dirham" (a medieval Islamic currency) indicates that the author came from a family of merchants or tax collectors. Another explanation has it that the "father of the dirham" is so called due to being the foremost liturgical commentator (as the Hebrew word "matbea" denotes both "coinage" and "prayer formula").
Abudarham has become one of the most important foundational texts on the rite and custom of prayers, and it is cited constantly by the poskim. The Noda BiYehudah writes in his approbation to the 1788 Prague edition of Abudarham: "The great virtue of the book of Abudarham is well-known; most of the customs in prayers, blessings, Kedushot and Havdalot are based on his book, and the Beit Yosef and acharonim in Orach Chaim cite him very often; it is a valuable and necessary book, since the acharonim cite his statements in brief…".

Incomplete copy: [148] leaves. Originally: [170] leaves. Missing 22 leaves. Collation (gatherings not marked): i5 (missing first five leaves, including illustrated frame on first leaf), ii-x8, xi6, xii7 (missing third leaf), xiii8, xiv7 (missing seventh leaf), xv6 (missing third and fourth leaf), xvi8, xvii3 (missing fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth leaf), xviii7 (missing first leaf), xix-xx8, xxi3 (missing last seven leaves). All the missing leaves are supplied in photocopy. 25.5 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains, including dark stains in several places. Tears, including many open tears (large tears along the margins to first leaves and other leaves), affecting text and headers of leaves, restored with paper filling (the entire book has been professionally restored, margins of leaves have been restored with paper filling). Worming in a few places, slightly affecting text, restored with paper filling. New leather binding.

The second book printed in Lisbon, a few months after the printing of the commentary of the Ramban on the Torah, in the press of Eliezer Toledano.

See: A.K. Offenberg, Hebrew Incunabula in Public Collections, Nieuwkoop: De Graaf, 1990, no. 1.

Hasagot HaRamban on Sefer HaMitzvot by the Rambam. Constantinople: David and Shmuel ibn Nachmias, 1510. First edition.
Printed without title page. At the top of the first leaf: "Hasagot of the Ramban against the Rambam's count of mitzvot".
First edition of the Ramban's famous Hasagot critiquing the Rambam's enumeration of commandments, and the first halachic work of the Ramban to be printed.
The Ramban's Hasagot are structured based on the Rambam's Sefer HaMitzvot, another work first printed in Constantinople in the same time period.
In the first part of the work, Ramban critiques the fourteen principles propounded by the Rambam as the basis for his count of mitzvot. In the second part of the work, Ramban comments on various commandments counted or omitted by the Rambam. Throughout the work, Ramban defends the count of mitzvot propounded by Halachot Gedolot (Bahag), which Rambam often disputes.
Several early authorities refer to this work as "Sefer HaMitzvot by the Ramban", but this name was almost entirely supplanted after its printing.
Colophon on last leaf: "The labor was completed… by the typesetters… R. David and his son R. Shmuel ibn Nachmias… And people assisted them… to benefit the public, and they dedicated their money to perform this great mitzvah… And it was completed on Rosh Chodesh Tammuz [1510] in Constantinople…".
Stamps (blurred) on last leaf: "Yaakov Tzvi Katz", "Yaakov Tzvi Katz, Rabbi of Hajdúszoboszló" – R. Yaakov Katz, Rabbi of Hajdúszoboszló, author of Leket HaKemach HeChadash. Succeeded his father as Rabbi of Hajdúszoboszló, a position his family held for four generations: his father R. Shmuel Katz, Rabbi of Hajdúszoboszló (d. 1919), son-in-law of R. Yaakov Tzvi Weiss-Weissman (d. 1889 or 1890), son of R. Avraham Weissman, Rabbi of Hajdúszoboszló (and son-in-law of Rebbe Shmuel Frankel, Rabbi of Hajdúdorog, author of Imrei Shefer).
Correction and short gloss on leaves of book, by two writers.

Complete copy. [70] leaves. Approx. 18 cm. Good-fair condition, last leaves in fair condition. Stains, including dampstains (many stains to last leaves). Wear and creases. Tears, including small marginal open tears. Worming to last leaves, slightly affecting text. Margins of several leaves repaired with paper. Close trimming, affecting text on one leaf. New leather binding. Placed in matching leather slipcase.

Commentary of Rashi on the Torah and Five Megillot. Venice: Daniel Bomberg, 1522.
Rare edition of Rashi's commentary on the Torah and Five Megillot.
Colophon on last leaf: "Printed by the brothers, sons of Baruch Adelkind of Padua, on behalf of Daniel Bomberg and in his press".
Signature on title page: "Meir son of Avraham in Haguenau" (Alsace), deleted by crossing out, with an additional signature below it: "Shalom Seligman Shamash" (a prominent member of the Frankfurt community). Additional inscriptions on title page.
Ownership inscription on leaf 2: "Purchased for the honor of my Creator, Netanel Pussweiler [Bouxwiller, Alsace], Wednesday, 18th Elul [1775]".
On the blank page on the verso of the final leaf, interesting inscriptions on abstaining from games and gambling, in early Ashkenazic script.
In the first inscriptions, the writer, "Yekutiel son of R. Menachem", makes a sworn commitment to refrain from board games (perhaps chess) for about six years. Writing in rhymed prose, he states that he had not been frequenting the study halls, instead playing board games, and he swears not to play board games until the year 5331 (1570/1571). After his signature ("this is the prayer and request of Yekutiel son of R. Menachem"), he further commits to refrain from all kinds of games: "And I add onto it of my own accord all kinds of games, until the above day and year", concluding with the date: "Friday of Parashat Lech Lecha 1564".
Below this inscription is a copying of a passage on the manifestation of Divine Inspiration in courts. Below it is an additional inscription, also on gambling: "…Therefore I determine not to gamble for a year[?], for which my brother gave me 3 Strasbourg pennies; and if I gamble before my time, i.e. a year, I will give him a Thaler. And I accept this upon myself… Tuesday, 10th Kislev 1570".
Card games and gambling were common in Ashkenazic lands for centuries, as was vowing to abstain from them. Community ordinances also sometimes dealt with this issue. "For the desire to gamble is especially great for those who have the habit. And R. Tuviah likewise stated that nowadays every vow not to gamble may be annulled, because those who are addicted to it are unable to restrain themselves" (Hagahat Smag, negative commandment 242). See further: R. Yuspa Schammes, Minhagim DiKehilat Vermeisa, Machon Yerushalayim edition, pp. 238-239, footnotes 10 and 13.

140 leaves. Approx. 25 cm. Most leaves in good-fair condition, first and last leaves in fair condition. Stains, including dampstains. Open tear to title page (not affecting text), and open tears to second leaf and several other places, affecting text and with abrasions to text, partially repaired with paper. Worming, slightly affecting text. Old binding, worn and damaged.

Exceptionally rare edition. The Bibliography of the Hebrew Book records a copy missing the title page.
Provenance: Sotheby's (Delmonico Collection), New York, December 2008, no. 174.