The author, R. Shimon Deutsch Ashkenazi Rabbi of Dobromyl (d. 1801), a holy Torah scholar, foremost disciple of R. Elimelech of Lizhensk. Held in high esteem by Chassidic leaders, his Torah thoughts are quoted reverently in the writings of such authors as the Bnei Yissachar, Melo HaRoim, R. Alexander of Komarno, R. Moshe of Kozhnitz and others. He corresponded on halachic issues with leading rabbis of his times, leaving behind many manuscript works on the Talmud and halacha as well as responsa, which were all destroyed in a fire after his passing. This work was authored by his disciples who committed his weekly Shabbat sermons to writing. As the author did not leave behind any offspring, the publisher named the book Nachalat Shimon, declaring that "this will be his heritage" (from the foreword). The Yeshuot Yaakov writes in his approbation to the book: "When I lived in Jarosław he was nearby, and he sometimes spoke with me on halachic matters, and all his words are to be considered well-examined". In this book, the author quotes his teacher, the illustrious R. Elimelech of Lizhensk (Parashat Vaera). R. Shimon Ashkenazi's gravesite in Dobromyl was a prayer site frequented by many up until the Holocaust. Since he did not bear any children, the local Beit Midrash had the custom to recite an extra Aleinu prayer on Shabbat morning followed by a kaddish in his memory (R. Sh.Ch. Parush, Or Yekarot, IV, p. 379). The Beit Avraham of Slonim would often recount an oral tradition from the Nachalat Shimon describing the elevated Shabbat atmosphere in the house of R. Elimelech of Lizhensk, which was so palpable that the cooks would make the customary Yom Kippur request for forgiveness of each other every Friday, so that no grudge would hold them back from experiencing the holiness of Shabbat. R. Shimon of Dobromyl said that when he saw this, R. Elimelech's son R. Elazar told him: "See how far the light of my father's Shabbat reaches… even the maidservants attain the light" (Beit Avraham, Slonim, pp. 67, 259).