Auction 67 - Judaica - Books, Manuscripts, Rabbinical Letters, Ceremonial Art
Manuscript - Sermons and Eulogies on Rabbis and Kings of Prussia - From an Unidentified Author - Prussia, 1838-1851
Opening: $500
Sold for: $1,063
Including buyer's premium
Manuscript, sermons and eulogies, from an unidentified author [a rabbi of Prussia - western Poland?, ca. 1838-1851].
Many gatherings bound together, containing notes and outlines of sermons which the writer delivered over the years, with comments which he added after he gave the address. Handwritten by the author, who was presumably a rabbi of one of the towns of Prussia (western Poland). The manuscript includes sermons for festivals and Shabbat, as well as for events related to the royal family: sermons for the birthday of King Frederick William IV of Prussia, and for the passing of King Frederick William III of Prussia (about whom he writes: "Who ruled over his country for 44 years, with kindness and compassion, he loved peace, truth and justice… and even other countries learned from his benevolent ways to treat the Jewish people kindly…). The notes include references to historical events which took place in those times (the Damascus blood libel in 1840, the fire in the Szubin community, and others).
The manuscript contains many eulogies for rabbis of that time. The second sermon is a eulogy on rabbis who passed away in 1838-1839: R. Yehuda Leib Falk, head of the Breslau and Dyhernfurth Beit Din (d. 30th Sivan 1838, a disciple of R. Akiva Eger); R. Shmuel Bernstein Rabbi of Amsterdam (d. 4th Tevet 1838); R. Avraham Löwenstam Rabbi of Emden and Mezeritch (d. 29th Tevet 1839, son of R. Aryeh Leib author of Penei Aryeh); R. Binyamin Schreiber Rabbi of Greiditz (author of Em LeBina, d. 29th Shevat 1839); R. Naftali Hirsch Bleichrode Rabbi of Kórnik (d. 24th Adar 1839, disciple of R. Akiva Eger and son-in-law of R. Avraham Eger of Rawicz); R. Shlomo Zalman Lipschitz Rabbi of Warsaw (author of Chemdat Shlomo, d. 11th Nisan 1839).
The seventh sermon includes a eulogy for R. Aharon Yehoshua Eliyahu Herzfeld Rabbi of Rawicz (d. 3rd Elul 1846) - "…who lived approximately ninety years… in Lemberg in a generation full of Torah, and then in Berlin by R. Hirschell (Levin)… and then in Königsburg, and then in Rawicz… and indeed, he did not leave behind a Tzaddik and exceptional Torah scholar like him in the entire country…" (it appears from his words further that the writer was close to him, and exchanged halachic correspondence with him). Sermon [19] contains a eulogy for R. Itzek Heldenstein head of the Lissa Beit Din (d. 22nd Tammuz 1845).
Sermon [22] and the leaves at the end of the volume contain eulogies for his father-in-law R. Elazar HaKohen (both eulogies are in a different handwriting, possibly from a different writer).
In the sixth and [18th] sermon, the rabbi arouses to the necessity of building a synagogue and mikveh for the community, and writes: "…for our community, formerly did not have a mikveh, cemetery or synagogue…". In the sermon for Shabbat Nachamu 1838, he speaks of German Jewry's degeneration in Halacha observance, and of the decline in the Torah standards of the rabbis ("…and I thought that even the fact that the public wants to hear ethics sermons from the rabbi, this too is a ploy of the Evil inclination, to take them away from their Torah study… to be drawn after Aggadah, at the end he will lose out on both sides… and in this way, the rabbi in Germany has become a preacher…".
Approx. 290 written pages. Size varies. 13.5-17.5 cm (most leaves: 16.5 cm). Good condition. Wear. Dampstains. New binding.
Many gatherings bound together, containing notes and outlines of sermons which the writer delivered over the years, with comments which he added after he gave the address. Handwritten by the author, who was presumably a rabbi of one of the towns of Prussia (western Poland). The manuscript includes sermons for festivals and Shabbat, as well as for events related to the royal family: sermons for the birthday of King Frederick William IV of Prussia, and for the passing of King Frederick William III of Prussia (about whom he writes: "Who ruled over his country for 44 years, with kindness and compassion, he loved peace, truth and justice… and even other countries learned from his benevolent ways to treat the Jewish people kindly…). The notes include references to historical events which took place in those times (the Damascus blood libel in 1840, the fire in the Szubin community, and others).
The manuscript contains many eulogies for rabbis of that time. The second sermon is a eulogy on rabbis who passed away in 1838-1839: R. Yehuda Leib Falk, head of the Breslau and Dyhernfurth Beit Din (d. 30th Sivan 1838, a disciple of R. Akiva Eger); R. Shmuel Bernstein Rabbi of Amsterdam (d. 4th Tevet 1838); R. Avraham Löwenstam Rabbi of Emden and Mezeritch (d. 29th Tevet 1839, son of R. Aryeh Leib author of Penei Aryeh); R. Binyamin Schreiber Rabbi of Greiditz (author of Em LeBina, d. 29th Shevat 1839); R. Naftali Hirsch Bleichrode Rabbi of Kórnik (d. 24th Adar 1839, disciple of R. Akiva Eger and son-in-law of R. Avraham Eger of Rawicz); R. Shlomo Zalman Lipschitz Rabbi of Warsaw (author of Chemdat Shlomo, d. 11th Nisan 1839).
The seventh sermon includes a eulogy for R. Aharon Yehoshua Eliyahu Herzfeld Rabbi of Rawicz (d. 3rd Elul 1846) - "…who lived approximately ninety years… in Lemberg in a generation full of Torah, and then in Berlin by R. Hirschell (Levin)… and then in Königsburg, and then in Rawicz… and indeed, he did not leave behind a Tzaddik and exceptional Torah scholar like him in the entire country…" (it appears from his words further that the writer was close to him, and exchanged halachic correspondence with him). Sermon [19] contains a eulogy for R. Itzek Heldenstein head of the Lissa Beit Din (d. 22nd Tammuz 1845).
Sermon [22] and the leaves at the end of the volume contain eulogies for his father-in-law R. Elazar HaKohen (both eulogies are in a different handwriting, possibly from a different writer).
In the sixth and [18th] sermon, the rabbi arouses to the necessity of building a synagogue and mikveh for the community, and writes: "…for our community, formerly did not have a mikveh, cemetery or synagogue…". In the sermon for Shabbat Nachamu 1838, he speaks of German Jewry's degeneration in Halacha observance, and of the decline in the Torah standards of the rabbis ("…and I thought that even the fact that the public wants to hear ethics sermons from the rabbi, this too is a ploy of the Evil inclination, to take them away from their Torah study… to be drawn after Aggadah, at the end he will lose out on both sides… and in this way, the rabbi in Germany has become a preacher…".
Approx. 290 written pages. Size varies. 13.5-17.5 cm (most leaves: 16.5 cm). Good condition. Wear. Dampstains. New binding.
Manuscripts and Glosses - Ashkenazi Rabbis
Manuscripts and Glosses - Ashkenazi Rabbis