Megillat Esther, with the Rashi and Siftei Chachamim commentaries, and a commentary by R. Meir Leibush Malbim. Warsaw, 1878. Printed in the lifetime of the author, the Malbim.
A dedication from the author is gilt-tooled on the front cover, in honor of Baron Wilhelm Carl von Rothschild (Shimon Ze'ev), who was dubbed "the righteous Baron of Frankfurt", extolling his nobility and generosity and his benevolent care for humanity. The dedication concludes: "As an eternal souvenir from the chief rabbi Malbim".
R. Meir Leibush Malbim (=Meir Leibush ben Yechiel Michel; 1809-1879), a Biblical commentator and leading rabbi of his generation, erudite in both revealed and hidden realms of the Torah (his teacher for Kabbalah was R. Tzvi Hirsh of Zidichov). In his youth, he authored the book Artzot HaChaim on Shulchan Aruch, which earned the effusive approbation of the Chatam Sofer and gained him renown as an exceptional Torah scholar. Wherever he served as rabbi or visited (he served as rabbi of Wreschen, Kempen, Bucharest, Kherson, Łęczyca, Mogilev and Königsberg), he was renowned for the uncompromising battle he waged against modernism, Haskalah and Reform, which elicited much harassment. During his tenure in Bucharest, he fought the Maskilim, who retaliated by contriving a blood libel. This resulted in him being imprisoned and sentenced to death, and only thanks to the intervention of Sir Moses Montefiore was his punishment reduced to expulsion from Romania. The spread of Haskalah drove him to devote his time and skills to composing a systematic commentary to the Bible, with the goal of clarifying the depth of wisdom which lies in the words of the sages, and proving the veracity of Oral law. Thus came to be his famous commentary to the Bible, which was well-received throughout the Jewish world and reprinted in hundreds of editions.
The recipient of the book, Baron Wilhelm Carl (Shimon Wolf) von Rothschild (1828-1901), was a notable of the Frankfurt am Main community. He was the son of Baron Carl (Kalman) Mayer Rothschild (1788-1855 - son of Mayer Anschel Rothschild, founder of the Rothschild Banking dynasty). He was renowned as a G-d-fearing Jew. In 1849, the secessionist Orthodox community was founded in Frankfurt with his financial support, and R. Shimshon Refael Hirsch was appointed as its rabbi. He maintained close ties with the Torah leaders of the generation, and generously supported Torah institutions and yeshivot in Eastern Europe. Rabbis, Torah scholars, authors and the needy from throughout Europe thronged to his doorstep.
24 leaves. Final leaf lacking (the text of the Megillah was completed in a later handwriting). 22 cm. Good condition. A few stains. Original leather binding with gilt ornamentation. Damage to binding.