Auction 57 - Judaica - Books, Manuscripts, Rabbinical Letters, Ceremonial Art
Handwritten Responsum by Rabbi Mordechai of Chechelnyk, Rabbi of Berdychiv, to Rabbi Efraim Zalman Margaliot - Signature of Rabbi Efraim Zalman Margaliot
Opening: $7,000
Unsold
Long autograph letter (7 pages) signed by Rabbi Mordechai of Chechelnyk, Rabbi of Berdychiv, to R. Efraim Zalman Margaliot of Brody. Berdychiv, [c. 1810s]. The margins of the first leaf bear the signature of the recipient, R. "Efraim Zalman".
Halachic responsum on the laws of "petzu'a daka". The writer opens the responsum writing that this same question was posed to R. Yosef HaCohen of Khmelnik (Chmielnik) who responded with a "heter", but unwilling to rely on his ruling alone, R. Yosef sent the query to "the famous… R. Eliyahu HaCohen R. of Berdychiv and requested that this venerable rabbi study this abstruse matter…". The responsum is signed by "Mordechai son of R. Zvi Hirsh of Berdychiv".
A response to this question appears in the Beit Efraim responsa, Even HaEzer Siman 2: "I have been asked by an exceptional Torah scholar…". [A different responsum appears in Siman 133, addressed to R. Mordechai of Chechelnyk with lofty titles of reverence and esteem].
R. Mordechai (Mottel) of Chechelnyk served as dayan, posek and rabbi in Berdychiv during ca. 1805-1840. Before this tenure, he served as member of the Chechelnyk Beit Din headed by his teacher R. Moshe Zvi of Savran and was counted among the greatest Torah scholars of his times. He exchanged halachic responsa with R. Yosef Landau R. of Iasi, with R. Ya'akov of Smila [disciple of the Magid of Mezeritch], R. Efraim Zalman Margaliot, and others. His fame as a posek endured during the following generations as well [see the venerable titles bestowed on him in the responsa by the Mahariz Enzil Siman 52]. He was also one of the initiators of the Berdychiv printing of the Rambam. His approbations were printed at the beginning of the Slavita Talmud (1835) and in various books printed in Ostroh from 1818-1819.
Rabbi Efraim Zalman Margaliot of Brody (1761-1828), author of Beit Efraim and Mateh Efraim was a famous Torah scholar, renowned throughout the Diaspora as a leading posek who corresponded with many contemporary sages. He lived in the times of the Netivot HaMishpat and the Ketzot HaChoshen. In his younger years, he served a short stint in the rabbinate of Uhniv after which he moved to Brody. There he did not accept a rabbinical position since he was blessed with extreme wealth. His books of responsa and halacha became basic books of halachic rulings and were noted already in his lifetime. The Chatam Sofer eulogized him: "Every day his teachings from the books he wrote resound in our Beit Midrash" (Ishim B'Teshuvot Chatam Sofer, pp. 79-81).
[7] written pages, 22 cm. High-quality bluish paper. Good condition. Stains.
Enclosed is an expert's letter of authorization detailing the content of the responsum and containing identification of the signature of R. Efraim Zalman Margaliot. Also enclosed is a detailed article about the life of R. Mottel of Berdychiv.
Halachic responsum on the laws of "petzu'a daka". The writer opens the responsum writing that this same question was posed to R. Yosef HaCohen of Khmelnik (Chmielnik) who responded with a "heter", but unwilling to rely on his ruling alone, R. Yosef sent the query to "the famous… R. Eliyahu HaCohen R. of Berdychiv and requested that this venerable rabbi study this abstruse matter…". The responsum is signed by "Mordechai son of R. Zvi Hirsh of Berdychiv".
A response to this question appears in the Beit Efraim responsa, Even HaEzer Siman 2: "I have been asked by an exceptional Torah scholar…". [A different responsum appears in Siman 133, addressed to R. Mordechai of Chechelnyk with lofty titles of reverence and esteem].
R. Mordechai (Mottel) of Chechelnyk served as dayan, posek and rabbi in Berdychiv during ca. 1805-1840. Before this tenure, he served as member of the Chechelnyk Beit Din headed by his teacher R. Moshe Zvi of Savran and was counted among the greatest Torah scholars of his times. He exchanged halachic responsa with R. Yosef Landau R. of Iasi, with R. Ya'akov of Smila [disciple of the Magid of Mezeritch], R. Efraim Zalman Margaliot, and others. His fame as a posek endured during the following generations as well [see the venerable titles bestowed on him in the responsa by the Mahariz Enzil Siman 52]. He was also one of the initiators of the Berdychiv printing of the Rambam. His approbations were printed at the beginning of the Slavita Talmud (1835) and in various books printed in Ostroh from 1818-1819.
Rabbi Efraim Zalman Margaliot of Brody (1761-1828), author of Beit Efraim and Mateh Efraim was a famous Torah scholar, renowned throughout the Diaspora as a leading posek who corresponded with many contemporary sages. He lived in the times of the Netivot HaMishpat and the Ketzot HaChoshen. In his younger years, he served a short stint in the rabbinate of Uhniv after which he moved to Brody. There he did not accept a rabbinical position since he was blessed with extreme wealth. His books of responsa and halacha became basic books of halachic rulings and were noted already in his lifetime. The Chatam Sofer eulogized him: "Every day his teachings from the books he wrote resound in our Beit Midrash" (Ishim B'Teshuvot Chatam Sofer, pp. 79-81).
[7] written pages, 22 cm. High-quality bluish paper. Good condition. Stains.
Enclosed is an expert's letter of authorization detailing the content of the responsum and containing identification of the signature of R. Efraim Zalman Margaliot. Also enclosed is a detailed article about the life of R. Mottel of Berdychiv.
Letters - Chassidism
Letters - Chassidism