Auction 74 - Judaica - Books, Manuscripts, Rabbinical Letters, Ceremonial Art
Zohar Chai (Komarno) – Lviv-Premishla, 1875-1881 – First Edition – Complete Set
Opening: $1,000
Unsold
Zohar Chai, commentary to the Zohar based on Kabbalah and Chassidut, by the kabbalist Rebbe Yitzchak Eizik Yehuda Yechiel Safrin, Rabbi of Zidichov (Zhydachiv) and Komarno, author of Heichal HaBerachah. Lviv-Premishla (Przemyśl), 1875-1881. First edition. Complete set – five parts in five volumes.
Zohar Chai is an original and profound commentary to the Zohar, based on fundamentals of the teachings of the Arizal and the Baal Shem Tov. In this composition, the author interweaves and combines Kabbalah and Chassidut, as he does in all his works. Unlike his other compositions which were printed in his lifetime, this work was printed after his passing, by his son Rebbe Eliezer Tzvi, author of Damesek Eliezer. The first volume was published during the year of mourning, and includes a lengthy and brilliant foreword from his son, the Damesek Eliezer. In this foreword, the son describes his father's exceptional prominence in Torah and worship of G-d, and relates stories demonstrating the Divine Inspiration his father benefitted from and the heavenly wonders he performed, which the Damesek Eliezer personally witnessed.
One of the stories the son relates was that after his father composed the first four leaves of his commentary, he was approached with a request that he pray for a deathly ill person. His father, who saw with Divine Inspiration that the ill person required much Heavenly mercy to recover, told the messenger: "I have no way of helping him, but I do possess four leaves which I wrote on the Zohar, go tell this sick person that I am giving these novellae on the Zohar to him as a gift… perhaps in this merit, the scale will tilt in his favor and he will live for many years". The messenger did as told, "and as soon as he reported this to the sick person, the latter broke out in sweat and regained his health". Further in the foreword, he relates that the first four leaves of the commentary pertain to the first two lines of the introduction to the Zohar. These four leaves were written in the summer of 1857, and thereafter the author took a ten-year hiatus from composing his commentary. In ca. 1867, "he saw the Baal Shem Tov in a dream, and agreed to begin composing a commentary to the Zohar… immediately on the next day, he began writing". He completed the commentary several weeks before his passing. In the conclusion at the end of the fifth volume, his son and publisher relates that on two occasions before his passing, his father made him promise to publish the Zohar Chai commentary, "and I rejoice that I have honored my pledge and fulfilled the words of my father".
Rebbe Yitzchak Eizik Yehuda Yechiel Safrin Rabbi of Zidichov and Komarno (1806-1874), a G-dly kabbalist and leading transmitter of the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, a nephew and close disciple of the Sar Beit HaZohar, Rebbe Tzvi Hirsh of Zidichov. He was cherished by foremost Chassidic leaders – the Chozeh of Lublin (who served as his matchmaker), the Rebbe of Apta, R. Moshe Tzvi of Savran, his uncle R. Moshe of Sambor, R. Yisrael of Ruzhin, and others. He authored many books on Chassidut and Kabbalah, including the Heichal HaBerachah commentary to the Five Books of the Torah, based on the teachings of the Arizal and the Baal Shem Tov. The Heichal HaBerachah Chumashim are considered classic books in Chassidic thought and Kabbalah. They were cherished by rebbes of various dynasties (the Zidichov dynasty, the Divrei Chaim and his descendants, the Tzemach Tzedek of Lubavitch, and others), who extolled the exceptional holiness of the kabbalistic teachings contained in his commentaries.
Five volumes. Vol. I (Bereshit, Part I): [4], 215 leaves.
Vol. II (Bereshit, Part II): [1], 216-348, 348-456, [1] leaves. Vol. III (Shemot, Part I): [4], 166 leaves. Vol. IV (Shemot, Part II): [2], 286, [2] leaves. Vol. V (Vayikra-Devarim): [2], 228, [4] leaves. Lacking one of the last [5] leaves, with the conclusion written by the author's son. Approx. 23-24 cm. Dry and brittle paper (some leaves slightly browned). Overall good condition. Stains. Some tears, repaired (minor damage to text on one leaf). Minor worming to a few leaves. New, uniform binding.
Stefansky Chassidut, no. 195.
Zohar Chai is an original and profound commentary to the Zohar, based on fundamentals of the teachings of the Arizal and the Baal Shem Tov. In this composition, the author interweaves and combines Kabbalah and Chassidut, as he does in all his works. Unlike his other compositions which were printed in his lifetime, this work was printed after his passing, by his son Rebbe Eliezer Tzvi, author of Damesek Eliezer. The first volume was published during the year of mourning, and includes a lengthy and brilliant foreword from his son, the Damesek Eliezer. In this foreword, the son describes his father's exceptional prominence in Torah and worship of G-d, and relates stories demonstrating the Divine Inspiration his father benefitted from and the heavenly wonders he performed, which the Damesek Eliezer personally witnessed.
One of the stories the son relates was that after his father composed the first four leaves of his commentary, he was approached with a request that he pray for a deathly ill person. His father, who saw with Divine Inspiration that the ill person required much Heavenly mercy to recover, told the messenger: "I have no way of helping him, but I do possess four leaves which I wrote on the Zohar, go tell this sick person that I am giving these novellae on the Zohar to him as a gift… perhaps in this merit, the scale will tilt in his favor and he will live for many years". The messenger did as told, "and as soon as he reported this to the sick person, the latter broke out in sweat and regained his health". Further in the foreword, he relates that the first four leaves of the commentary pertain to the first two lines of the introduction to the Zohar. These four leaves were written in the summer of 1857, and thereafter the author took a ten-year hiatus from composing his commentary. In ca. 1867, "he saw the Baal Shem Tov in a dream, and agreed to begin composing a commentary to the Zohar… immediately on the next day, he began writing". He completed the commentary several weeks before his passing. In the conclusion at the end of the fifth volume, his son and publisher relates that on two occasions before his passing, his father made him promise to publish the Zohar Chai commentary, "and I rejoice that I have honored my pledge and fulfilled the words of my father".
Rebbe Yitzchak Eizik Yehuda Yechiel Safrin Rabbi of Zidichov and Komarno (1806-1874), a G-dly kabbalist and leading transmitter of the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, a nephew and close disciple of the Sar Beit HaZohar, Rebbe Tzvi Hirsh of Zidichov. He was cherished by foremost Chassidic leaders – the Chozeh of Lublin (who served as his matchmaker), the Rebbe of Apta, R. Moshe Tzvi of Savran, his uncle R. Moshe of Sambor, R. Yisrael of Ruzhin, and others. He authored many books on Chassidut and Kabbalah, including the Heichal HaBerachah commentary to the Five Books of the Torah, based on the teachings of the Arizal and the Baal Shem Tov. The Heichal HaBerachah Chumashim are considered classic books in Chassidic thought and Kabbalah. They were cherished by rebbes of various dynasties (the Zidichov dynasty, the Divrei Chaim and his descendants, the Tzemach Tzedek of Lubavitch, and others), who extolled the exceptional holiness of the kabbalistic teachings contained in his commentaries.
Five volumes. Vol. I (Bereshit, Part I): [4], 215 leaves.
Vol. II (Bereshit, Part II): [1], 216-348, 348-456, [1] leaves. Vol. III (Shemot, Part I): [4], 166 leaves. Vol. IV (Shemot, Part II): [2], 286, [2] leaves. Vol. V (Vayikra-Devarim): [2], 228, [4] leaves. Lacking one of the last [5] leaves, with the conclusion written by the author's son. Approx. 23-24 cm. Dry and brittle paper (some leaves slightly browned). Overall good condition. Stains. Some tears, repaired (minor damage to text on one leaf). Minor worming to a few leaves. New, uniform binding.
Stefansky Chassidut, no. 195.
Chassidic Books
Chassidic Books