Yalkut Sofer, on Chumash Bereshit, by R. Yosef Leib Sofer Rabbi of Derecske. Paks, 1894. First edition. On title page: Handwritten dedication of the author to his brother-in-law "R. Avraham Segal Pollack", signed by R. "Avraham Segal Pollack".
Handwritten booklets are bound at the end of the book.
· The first booklet contains a compilation of sermons for special occasions and on topics in the Torah handwritten and signed by R. Avraham Segal Pollack. He cites many things in the name of the Chatam Sofer which he heard from his grandfather, R. Yitzchak Zekel Pollack of Bonihad who was a disciple of the Chatam Sofer and other thoughts heard from his uncle and teacher R. Moshe Pollack of Bonihad.
· The second booklet contains Talmudic novellae, written for R. Avraham Pollack by his friend from his days in the Bonihad Yeshiva, R. Shmuel Tessler, whose signature appears in many places. Further in the notebook, are Talmudic novellae handwritten and signed repeatedly by R. Avraham Pollack himself, written in his youth, including a complete essay of the teachings of his grandfather R. Zekel Pollack.
Sermons and eulogies delivered by R. Avraham on various occasions: a sermon upon the marriage of his son, R. Yosef Asher, with the daughter of R. Yehuda Altman, in Elul 1920; sermon delivered in the Verpelét synagogue upon his son's arrival in 1923, for his second marriage; sermons delivered in the Ohel Beit Midrash; eulogy upon his father's death in Tevet 1911, signed "Avraham son of …R. David Yuda Segal Pollack"; eulogy upon the death of his elder brother R. Chaim Dov in the month of Adar 1912; eulogy upon the death of his mother Sarah in Av 1932; memorial leaf and eulogy delivered upon the death of his wife "the virtuous pious M. Toibe" on the last day of Chanuka 1924; leaf of commemoration upon the death of his son R. Moshe Rabbi of Levelek, who died at the age of 30 in the month of Sivan 1932; sermon he delivered at the wedding of his youngest son R. Zecharya in 1933.
· Further in the notebook: lists of births in the handwriting of R. Zecharya HaLevi Pollack Rabbi of Nagyoroszi, listing the births of his six children from 1935-1941 and a ledger listing 35 circumcisions performed by R. Zechaya during 1934-1944 in various Hungarian locations. A rare list since most of these circumcised babies perished during the Holocaust.
R. Yosef Leib Sofer (1861-1918), author of Yalkut Sofer was a famous rabbi in Hungary. Son of R. Zusman Sofer Rabbi of Paks and disciple of the Pressburg Yeshiva and prominent disciple of the Bonihad Yeshiva, he studied from R. Zekel Pollack and his son R. Moshe Pollack. He was the son-in-law of R. David Yehuda Pollack, son of his illustrious teacher R. Zekel.
His brother-in-law R. Avraham Segal HaLevi Pollack (1870-c. 1940), son of R. David Yehuda Pollack studied at the Pressburg Yeshiva and at the Bonihad Yeshiva under the tutelage of his grandfather R. Yitzchak Zekel (1813-1891) and his uncle R. Moshe Pollack (1845-1889). After his marriage to the daughter of R. Zecharya Miller of Ujhely (Ohel), he settled and established his Beit Midrash in Ujhely. In 1935, he moved to Jerusalem and died there in 1940.
Inscribed on his tombstone on the Mount of Olives is that four of his sons served in the rabbinates of four Hungarian communities.
His famous son is R. Yosef Asher HaLevi Pollack, Rabbi and head of the Verpelet Yeshiva, a prominent Hungarian yeshiva. His first marriage was to the daughter of R. Yehuda Altman Rabbi of Mezocsat and after her death he remarried the widow of R. Shalom Dov Fishel of Verpelet in 1933, and served there as rabbi and head of yeshiva. He was murdered in the Holocaust. A few of his manuscripts were printed in the book She'erit Yosef Asher which was printed in Eretz Israel by the committee of the disciples of the Verpelet Yeshiva. The synagogue She'erit Yosef Asher in Har Nof, Jerusalem was established in his memory.
His youngest son, R. Zecharya HaLevi Pollack, Rabbi of Nagyoroszi (Northern Hungary) was the son-in-law and successor of R. Yitzchak Lorentz Rabbi of Nagyoroszi. In the beginning of the Holocaust years, he was exiled for more than a year to detention camps and to Ukraine. After returning to Hungary, he settled in the adjacent city Balassagyarmat. In Sivan 1944, he was deported in a train to Auschwitz and perished there together with his wife and six children (listed in this manuscript). His manuscript of novella, Zecher Tov, was lost during the Holocaust. See enclosed material.
[4], 226 leaves + [165] handwritten pages. 22.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Worn brittle paper. Half-calf ancient binding, rubbed.