On Libraries, Bibliophiles & Images: Taj Auction 13

On Libraries, Bibliophiles & Images: Taj Art Auctions 13

by Eliezer Brodt and Dan Rabinowitz

Taj Art Auctions will hold its 13th auction this Sunday, April 7th (the catalog is available here). The auction contains many items worth highlighting, especially those related to historic Jewish libraries, as well as other unique books and ephemera.

Recently, arguably, the most significant Jewish library reopened its doors. The National Library of Israel, housed at Hebrew University for decades, moved into its own building, designed by the starchitects Herzog & de Meuron, who count the Tate Modern among other outstanding projects. Books are integral to the Jewish experience, and the library’s location, next to some of the most important institutions of the Jewish state, the Knesset, the Israel Museum, and the Supreme Court, echoes that sentiment. The library’s ground floor houses the Jewish Studies reading room, which contains over 200,000 volumes. The library itself holds over four million books (and counting). These are now accessed by a quartet of robots that fetch requested books. There is even a window to watch them in action. The Scholem room has been transformed from its small, cramped quarters into a spacious room that houses the collections of several kabbalah scholars. Scholem’s desk is still present. There is a permanent exhibit of some of the library’s treasures, but that is only accessible on an official tour.

Nonetheless, it is undoubtedly worth seeking out. An exhibition of manuscripts of one the greatest privately held collections of Judaica, the Braginsky Collection, opens this month. While the National Library’s new building and collection are exceptional, many precursor Jewish libraries existed throughout the Jewish diaspora.

The oldest functioning Jewish library in the world is the Ets Haim Library in Amsterdam, dating from 1616. (An exhibition of its books was held at the National Library of Israel, then known as the Jewish National and University Library, in 1980). Its antiquity is tied to the date the school opened with the same name. This school became well-known for its unique curriculum and success in imparting that curriculum. Unlike the Central and Eastern European schools that almost immediately started studying Mishna and Talmud, the Talmud Torah applied a more systematic approach to Jewish literature. R. Shabbetai Seftil, the son of R. Yeshaya ha-Levi Horowitz (Shelah or Shelah ha-Kodesh), traveled from Frankfurt to Pozen via ship. That journey took him through Amsterdam, where he saw that the students’ studies operated in sequence. First, they studied the entire corpus of Tanakh and then completed the Mishha, and when they matured, they only began studying Talmud, and this approach contributed to their unique success. Seeing the benefits, he broke down crying, “Why don’t we follow the same approach in our countries [of Central and Eastern Europe]? Suppose only we could institute this throughout the Jewish communities. What would the harm be in first completing the Torah and Mishna until the student reaches thirteen and then begins Talmud? With that background, it will take only a year to become proficient in the intricacies of Talmud study, unlike our current approach that requires years to reach that level of fluency.”

In an example of the intertwining nature of the library and the school, the bibliographer R. Shabbetai Bass (1641-1718), who wrote the first Hebrew bibliography, Sifte Yeshenim (today, most well-known for this commentary on Rashi, Sifte Hakhim). Bass was born and lived in what is today the Czech Republic (Czechia). Around 1680, he went to Amsterdam to print Sifte Yeshenim. During that time, he visited the library and school and described the students as “students of giants: young children dancing like locusts and like so many lambs. To my eyes, they were giants, so well-versed in their knowledge of Torah and grammar. They could write Hebrew verse and poetry in meter and converse in clear Hebrew.” He also describes the unique aspect of the library. “Within the midrash, they have a special school, and there they have many books, and all the time they are in the yeshivah, this room is also open, and whoever wishes to study, anything he desires is lent to him. But not outside the beit midrash, even if he provides a large sum of money.”

Among the Ets Hayim Library treasures is an Amsterdam print, the first Haggadah with copperplate illustrations. While illustrations in printed Haggados began with the Prague Haggadah of 1526, these were woodcuts. Copperplates, however, produce much finer illustrations. In 1695, the convert, Abraham ben Yaakov, designed and executed these copperplates, and the Haggadah was printed by the famed Amsterdam publisher, Proops. (Copperplates were already used in printing decades before the Haggadah. Perhaps one of the most significant recent examples is a 1635 copper etching by Rembrandt that the Jewish art scholar Simon Schama donated to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam last year.) The illustrations are based on the Christian biblical illustrations of Mathis Marin. While most are innocuous, the temple image at the end of the Haggadah is topped with a cross. In addition to the fine illustrations, the Haggadah also contains a large foldout map of the Jews’s journeys from Egypt to Israel; it is among the first Jewish maps of the Holy Land.

The Ets Hayim Library holds a unique edition of this Haggadah, considered one of its most treasured books. First, it contains an extra title page. But, more importantly, it is hand colored. While the copperplates are a significant improvement, the coloring makes this an especially striking Haggadah. It is listed among 18 Highlights from the Es Haim: The Oldest Jewish Library in the World, published by the library in 2016. The book includes three full-page reproductions of various details of the Haggadah and smaller reproductions of other pages. There are only two other copies of this version. One is at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, and the other is being auctioned at Taj Art Auctions (lot 89). The copy at the auction was a gift from the printer Solomon Proops.

Similar images from the Haggadah’s title page were reused in Menoras ha-Me’or, Amsterdam, 1722, (lot 84), and the Amsterdam Haggadah final illustration of the Beis ha-Mikdash, that if one looks closely, the Christian cross was left intact from the original Mathis Marin illustration, also appears in the beautiful and unique title page adorning Birkas Shmuel, Frankfurt, 1782 (lot 152).

Birkas Shmuel, Frankfurt, 1782 Note the Cross on the Top of the Temple

Amsterdam was home to another significant library, the Rosenthaliana. It was collected in Hanover but eventually landed in Amsterdam. The catalog related to this library attests to the rarity of another book in this auction. This library was amassed by Eliezer (Leeser) Rosenthal (1794-1868). Born in Warsaw, he eventually traveled to Hanover, where he served as a Rabbi. His wife came from a wealthy family that allowed Rosenthal to indulge in his passion, book collecting. At their death, his library comprised more than 5,200 volumes, including twelve incunabula and numerous rare and unique books. After his death, his son, George, commissioned the bibliographer Meyer (Marcus) Roest to complete a bibliography of the library. It was published in two volumes in 1875 and reproduced in 1966. Roest’s work incorporated Rosenthal’s catalog of his library, Yodeah Sefer. Despite the many rare books in the collections, there was at least one book he could not procure, at least a complete copy. In his entry, 1524, for the Ibbur Shanim, Venice, 1679, he says that “it is a terrible loss, that my copy is incomplete, it is missing the last pages, my copy ends at page 95 … and is missing the calendric charts for 150 years, beginning from 1675, my copy is missing from 95 of these charts, from 1731 onward… This is a scarce (yekar mitzius) book and is not listed in R. Hayim Michael’s [Or Meir] or the Shem ha-Gedolim, or Di Rossi’s bibliography.” The National Library of Israel received a complete copy from the Valmaddona Trust, which was digitized and available online. (One can bid on four of the Valmadonna books, Talmud Bavli, Seder Zeriam, Lublin, 1618, lot 70 , as well as lots 12, 54, and 68). A complete copy of the book appears in the auction at lot 2. (For more on calendar books, see Elisheva Carlebach, Palaces of Time: Jewish Calendar and Culture in Early Modern Europe, and pp. 51-55 regarding Ibbur Shanim. His work is also a source for the Tu be-Shevat seder, see our post, “Is there a Rotten Apple in the Tu be-Shevat Basket“). The book has its own intersting history that is briefly described in the timely post, “Kitniyot and Mechirat Chametz: Paradoxical Approaches to the Chametz Prohibition.”

Yet another seminal Jewish library was that of R. Dovid Oppenheim (1664-1736), considered “the greatest Jewish bibliophile that ever lived.” (See Alexander Marx, Studies in Jewish History and Booklore, 213). Oppenheim started his rabbinic career in Moravia, moved to Prague, and was eventually elevated to Bohemia’s Chief Rabbi. At age 24, his library consisted of 480 books, and by 1711, his library stood at over 2,100 books, missing only 140 books from those listed in Shabbetai Bass’s bibliography of all Hebrew books. After his death (with some additions from his son, Yosef), the library rose to 4,500 printed books and 780 manuscripts. Although Oppenheim lived in Prague, the library was in Hanover. This was due to the heavy book censorship, which included the potential for confiscation by the authorities. Oppenheim visited his library, but perhaps because his time was limited, his works do not indicate that he was acquainted with the book’s contents. Instead, he should be considered a consummate bibliophile, and his collection consisted of rarities and special beautiful and unique copies, with a considerable number on blue paper. For example, there were 51 books printed on vellum, 40 of which he commissioned himself, out of about 200 known books printed on that medium until 1905.

After his death and multiple attempts to sell the library, it eventually went to the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. A complete history of the library was most recently accounted for by Joshua Teplitsky in his Prince of the Press: How One Collector Built History’s Most Enduring and Remarkable Jewish Library. But before its final resting place, there were a handful of catalogs of the library or various aspects of it. The first complete printed catalog of the library was issued in 1782 and was intended to elicit interest from potential Jewish and non-Jewish buyers. Thus, it contains two title pages, one in Hebrew and the other in Latin. This rare bibliophilic item is lot 156.

Finally, the auction also includes books from the library of R. Nachum Dov Ber Friedman, the Sadigur Rebbe. His library was recently described in Amudei Olam by R. Zusya Dinklos, pp. 419-39. Aside from traditional works, the library also held Haskalah works, as the one in lot 71.

Illustrated Books

We discussed Ibur Shanim, and in addition to its rarity, it is also among the small number of Hebrew books that contain illustrations. Because the book’s purpose was to elucidate and explain Hebrew calendrical calculations, including the determination of the tekufos (which he vehemently criticizes some Rishonim and others for dismissing them as old wives tales), there are a handful of tutorial images.

Likewise, Sefer ha-Ivronot, Offenbach, 1722 (lot 73) includes celestial images, in this instance, a movable wheel of the heavenly apparatuses. While there was some speculation that the title page image depicting a heliocentric universe was deliberately to align with the book’s contents, that is unlikely as the image was reused in at least three other books printed in Offenbach that are unrelated to astronomy.

Moshe Hefetz, perhaps more well-known for the 19th-century modification of his portrait attached to the first edition of his Melechet Machshevet, which depicts him bare-headed, authored a book on the Bet ha-Mikdash, Haknukas ha-Bayis, 1696, (lot 20), within which several Temple elements are illustrated.

Two books contain eclectic images of the Jewish star. Igeret Ayelet Ahavim, Amsterdam, 1665 (lot 140) and the first edition, 170 Amsterdam, Raziel HaMalach, (lot 120) include unusual adaptations of the star. (For another kabbalistic rarity, lot 116, is the kabbalist, Rabbi Yosef Erges’ personal copy of the Rosh ha-Shana and Yom Kippur machzorim with his kabbalistic additions.)

*Iggeres Ayyeles Ahahuvim*
From the Gross Family Collection

*Razeil ha-Malakh*
From the Gross Family Collection

There are a handful of artistic title pages, with at least two Greek gods, Hercules and Venus (see lots 10 and 48), and some potentially objectionable ones that Marc Shapiro discussed in his book Changing the Immutable (lots 64 & 78).

One of the most unusual title pages is a special one that its owner inserted into the book. The title page, taken from a non-Jewish architectural image by the 18th-century engraver Franz Carl Heissig, was filled in by hand with the book’s publication information (lot 5).

Finally, while censorship in Jewish books is somewhat common, undoing censorship is less common. Lot 62 is a unique copy of the Shu’T Maharshal that includes the otherwise expunged name of an informer. Other copies only refer to the person obliquely; this copy, although crossed out, the name is still visible. For more on this see Elchanan Reiner, “Lineage (Yihus) and Libel: Mahral, the Bezalel Family, and the Nadler Affair,” in Elchanan Reiner, ed., Maharal: Biography, Doctrine, Influence, 101-26 (Hebrew).

Genazym Auctions: Illustrations & the Friendship Between the Hazon Ish and R. Zevin

Genazym Auction: Illustrations and the Friendship between the Hazon Ish and R. Zevin

The auction house, Genazym, is holding its third auction (the catalog is available here) this week Thursday, August 30th. This auction includes many Hassidic works, letters, autographs, early editions, and some impressive bindings. Additionally, as at other auction houses, items are already appearing from the Lunzer/Valmadonna collection whose books were sold and auctioned in the past year.

There are a few items that have aspects that go beyond their texts. The book, Hok le-Yisrael, Prague, 1798, (lot 27) is notable for its unusual title page. It contains Dovid and Shlomo (for a discussion of the inclusion of biblical figures on the title-page see here), with the head of Goliath at David’s feet. David is shown lifting his shirt to expose his belly which is depicted as one of substantial girth. It is unclear why the illustrator used that particular pose. The remainder of the illustration is unremarkable. But the text of the title has its own quirk, where it is printed in a handwritten font, both the Hebrew and the German.

Just to mention one other unique illustrated item I recently came across about to be auctioned off in the forthcoming Genazym auction (lot 26). In a few copies of the 1840 printing of the classic work on Shecitah, Tevous Shor there is a very nice illustration connected to the title and name of the author.

Some books are especially valued because of their legendary segulah powers. Recently this has become even more commonplace with this genre expanding exponentially.[1] At times the source for how these books fall into that genre are murky, but one that has a long history is Hayim ben Attar’s Or ha-Hayim. The first edition, Venice 1742, (lot 49), in a very nice binding, is highlighted for its segulah powers that include protection, healing, and children, and the study of it has the power to purify one’s soul.

Returning to illustrations, a portrait of R. Dov Ber Meisles, the rabbi of Warsaw (and other cities), from 1891, is among the items. This is not the only illustration that R Meisels appears. During the late 1860s, there was substantial unrest in Poland when many sought to force the Tsar to bestow greater civil rights to the populace. The clergy played a large role in this endeavor and R Meisels was among them. This was viewed as an opportunity for Jews to be accepted by the population. In this, Meisels had a profound impact and was among the main influencers of Marcus Jastrow to take part in the movement. Meisels and Jastrow became very close. When both were imprisoned for their activities, initially Jastrow was kept in isolation but when he was transferred to Meisels’ cell, Jastrow’s spirits were lifted and was able to deal with the remainder of his imprisonment. In the end, both were expelled from Poland, although eventually permitted to return. One of the most notable events during this period was the funeral of five protesters who were killed by government forces. The funeral took place on Shabbos and both Jastrow and Meisles were in attendance. Their participation is recorded in Aleksander Lesser’s painting, “Funeral of five victims of the demonstration in Warsaw in 1861.”In the center left, Meisels appears with a fur hat next to Jastrow in his canonicals.[2]

Another item of ephemera is a letter from the Hazon Ish to R. Yosef Zevin (lot 68)(the envelope confirms that the addressee was R Zevin). Although there is no doubt about R Zevin’s Zionist leanings, the Hazon Ish carried on a correspondence with him.[3] This is yet another letter showing the connection between R Zevin and the Hazon Ish. (For others, see Yehoshuah Levin, HaShakdan (Monsey: Tuvia’s, 2010), 117). R Zevin included a profile of Hazon Ish and his style of study in the book Ishim ve-Shitot.

As we have shown in the past, one can learn all kinds of things from the information found in the writeups in the various auction catalogs including seeing actual clear copies of the manuscripts (lot 55). there is a letter of his from 1886 about his essay on Antisemitism called Shar Yisroel which he was about to print. He writes to his son to check it over as someone told him that perhaps some might get angry about and it would cause problems for him and the Yeshiva. This is not the only time that we find the Netziv nervous about his actions and that it would cause possible problems for the Yeshiva.

Two of R Yaakov Emden’s important works, Mitpahat Seforim and his Siddur, both of which are rare are up for sale (lots 75 & 76). The first of edition of his siddur is critical to actually determining R. Emden’s opinions regarding the liturgy and its attendant customs. This is so because although there are many alleged reprints of the Siddur, they, in fact, do not include the text that R Emden so carefully edited. Only recently has the complete siddur been reprinted. The Mitpahahat is R Emden’s well-known challenge to the Zohar, or parts of it. Emden points to many passages that appear to be later than when R Shimon bar Yochi lived, the traditional author of the Zohar. R. Emden’s work was subject to some rebuttals, one is Moshe Kunitz Ben Yochi. But some allege that Kunits freely borrowed from others and that his rebuttals fall short of the mark.

One final item, also a siddur, is a first edition of Siddur R’ Shabsai MeiRushkov (lot 95) which is considered very rare starting bid is $50,000 and with a sale’s estimate of $100,000.

[1] See Avraham Ya’ari, Mehkeri Sefer (Jerusalem: Yehuda, 1958) who discussed a number of books that were written after the author experienced cataclysimic events. See also Eliezer Brodt’s article in the forthcoming Ami Magazine discussing the ubiquity of this phenomenon.

[2] See Jastrow, “Baer Meisels, Chief Rabbi,” The Maccabean XI, 5 (Nov. 1906), 208-09; idem. XI, 6 (Dec. 1906), 246-48. For Jastrow’s activities during that time see Michael Galas, Rabbi Marcus Jastrow and His Vision for the Reform of Judaism: A Study in the History of Judaism in the Nineteenth Century, trans. Anna Tilles (Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2013), 70-88. Even at the end of his life, Jastrow was in America he still counted Meisel among those who influenced him. See idem. 170.

[3] That is not to say that some didn’t try to write out R Zevin’s connection to Zionism. See Jacob J. Schacter, “Facing the Truths of History,” Torah u-Madda Journal 8 (1998-1999): 223-24.

Rare Letters, Controversial & Valuable Hasidic Books – Genazym Auction

Genazym Auction is holding an auction on March 21st that includes many important letters and manuscripts and a small number of books (download a pdf of the catalog here). Many of the books are Hasidic or owned by well-known Hasidic figures. For example, the rare first edition of the No’am Elimelekh, 1788, by R. Elimelekh of Lyzhensk (lot 13). That book, like other early Hasidic books are both fundamental to the Hasidic philosophy and theology and were controversial among those opposed to the new movement. Indeed, according to Rabbi David of Makov, the book should be “eradicated from our homes.” (R. David of Makov, Shever Poshim, in Morecai Wilensky, Hasidim U-Mitnaggedim, vol. II (Jerusalem: Mossad Bialik, 1970). Similarly, the Tolodot Ya’akov Yosef, was published in Lvov, 1788, is among the most prized Hasidic books. The book was controversial when it was printed (likely without official approval of the censor) and some copies were destroyed in Brody. According to the legend recorded in Shivhei Ha-Besht the matter of the books was so important it was discussed in the heavenly court at the highest levels. Joseph Perl, in his satire, Megaleh Temirin, locates that bibliocide at “the home of R. Mikhel of Zlotchuv, in compliance with the order of the [Brody] court and the community there.” (See Jonathan’ Meir’s recent critical edition of the Megalah Temirim that provides additional evidence of the book burning. Sefer Megale Temirin, ed. Jonathan Meir (Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 2013) 29n10). Ownership of the No’am Elimelekh is also valued as a segulah. There are other books that are prized not only for their content but also for such secondary reasons, for example, the Homat Eish, (R. Eliezer from Kalktshuv, Bresslau 1799), as the title implies is designed to protect from fire. (See also Avraham Ya’ari, Mehkerei Sefer (Jerusalem: Yehuda, 1958) 47-54)

Another important Hasidic work is R. Hayyim of Chernowitz’s, Siduro shel Shabbat (lot 14), which is well-known as the source for the Leshem Yihud. That prayer is among the more controversial prayers, which we have discussed previously here and towards the end of this post. (See also Moshe Halamish, Kabalah: Be-Tefilah be-Halakha ube-Minhag (Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University Press, 2000) 45-70 and Daniel Sperber, Minhagei Yisrael (Jerusalem: Mossad HaRav Kook, 2007) index “leshem yihud”).

Similarly, the Sh”ut Mayyim Hayyim (lot 18) by R. Hayyim Rapoport we have discussed at length here. The work establishes the existence Ba’al Shem Tov and is an indication of his scholarship. Our post discusses other bibliographical and historic items related to the work.

There are numerous historical and intellectually valuable letters among them the telegram sent from Kobe, Japan, just before Yom Kippur 1941 to the rabbis in Israel requesting clarification, because of the ambiguity of the location of the dateline, as to which day to fast on Yom Kippur. (Lot 48). A number of opinions are collected in Shitat Kav ha-Tarikh be-Kador ha-Arets, ed. Yehudah Areyeh Blum, (Jerusalem: [], 1990). Another book is (admittedly tangentially) related to the geography of the earth, and specifically Jewish astronomical calculations. An illustration at the top of the title page of Sefer Ebronot (Offenbach, 1772) provides a heliocentric view of the earth. The same illustrations appear in R. Yehuda Leib Oppenheim’s, Matteh Yehuda (Offenbach, 1722) and with the date displayed Ha-Moshiah ben David.

R. Eliayhu Guttmacher was a reknown “Ba’al Mofes.” But he was eventually overwhelmed with petitions for his assistance that he was forced to publish an advertisement in the Ha-Maggid newspaper begging people to stop sending him letters. R. Eliyahu Guttmacher, Mehtav me-Eliayhu (Jerusalem: Yisrael Bak, 1974) 89-91; see also Bromberg, Me-Gedolei ha-Torah veha-Hasidut, vol. 24 (Jerusalem: HaMakhon LeHssidut) 143-52, which prints some of R. Guttmacher’s letters regarding the same; and Glenn Dyner, “Brief Kvetches: Notes to a 19th century Miracle Worker, Jewish Review of Books (Summer, 2014), 33-35.

An important letter to R. Guttmacher is included in the auction(lot 43):

ויש הכרח ממני לכתוב כאן בקיצור, שבל יאמר מי: הלא נשמע כמה מעשיות אשר נעשים על ידך בעזה”י להציל מצרות רבות, אין זאת רק על ידי קבלת מעשית. וכאשר הגעתי אגרת ממרחק מחכם גדול… בהיותי שאני בקי בקבלה מעשיות ארחם לעשות בבזה שנתייאש מכל הרופאים. בקראי זאת נפלה עלי להיות חשוד בכך… קודם כל אודיע כי בכל התאמצות דחיתי מעלי כל הבא, אבל ראיתי סיבות נפלאות שכן היה רצון ה’. באשר שגדולי ישראל הסיעו הנדכאים עלי. ומה היה לי לעשות אם באו אב ואם ואחד מקרוביהם והביאו לי בנם, בוכים וצועקים לרחם. ישבתי ללמוד עם בחורים בבית המדרש והובא נער מן י”א שנה בכתף אביו וצעק לרחם עליו… והנער לא היה יכול לדבר מאומה… וקולו פעמים בנביחה ככלב ופמעים כעגל…וגם כל העוברים דרך העיר בשמעם עניניו לביתו לראות הנפלאות. ואני ידעתי שאין לי מאומה במה לרפאותו. בכל זאת חשבתי הלא ד’ ברוך הוא שולחו… ולקחתי ספר תהילים ובמקום שנפל אמרתי, והבאתי לכל תיבה כוונה לענין שלפני. וכוונתי היטב בשורש האותיות, ובמיוחד בהזכרת השם הקודש… פתאום הוציא הנער קול אשר נבהלו כולם, והראה באצבע למקום אחד. ואמרתי מהר לפתוח החלון, וכן היה ודיבר הנער ואמר יצאה אחת מן המכשפות ממנו ופתחתי לראות בבטנו כי אמר עוד שלש מכשפות בו… ואמרתי כיון שיש עת רצון אתפלל עוד. וכאשר אמרתי שוב בערך ד’ מינוטין שוב צעק בקול אשר בכל השכונה ברחוב ההוא נבהלו והחלון היה פתוח ושוב אמר הנה כולם יצאו… והיה כזה עוד בכמה אשר יש לכתוב כמעט ספר מכל הענינים, והכל היה בעל כרחי שהפיל עלי בכח. ורק על ידי תפלות ובקשות ולפעמים גם סגולות השכיחות… (עי”ש עוד דברים חשובים בזה, צפנת פענח, מאמר ט).

There are many other interesting items as well, such as R. Shlomo Kluger’s passport (lot 39):

A letter from the Malbim (lot 40) and much more:

Legacy Judaica Auction March 6th: A Sampling of Forgeries and other Eclectic Lots

Legacy Judaica‘s next auction will occur on March 6, 2018. The 220 lots include very rare books such as the first edition of the Yerushalmi and a letter from R. Tzvi Ashkenazi (Hakham Tzvi) (the entire catalog can be accessed here), there are many other interesting books and letters.

Conditional marriage has been applied since at least the talmudic period if not early. The exact circumstances and necessary predicates have evolved over time and especially in the modern period when marriage and divorce were slowly wrested from the exclusive control of the clergy and the state began to involve itself permitting some to circumvent the religious process entirely, the issue of annulments became acuter. Annulments were among the only methods that would free a woman whose husband proceed to receive a secular divorce but not a religious one. In France, in the early 20th century a scheme to make conditional marriage the norm and avoid later issues was proposed. But this met with fierce opposition from many rabbis, and to counter that proposal in 1930 in Vilna a book, Ein Tenie be-Nissuin, that contained signatures of 400 rabbis was published in protest. The book also contains an introduction by the leading Posek, R. Chaim Ozer. (Lot 21).

Another contemporary controversy related to something much older, the Talmud Yerushalmi. In the first decade of the 20th century, Shlomo Friedlander published a few volumes from the Kodshim order that hereto had never been published (lot 47). Allegedly these were from a manuscript, but many doubted their authenticity. R. Meir Don Plotski, the author of the biblical commentary, Kli Hemdah, devoted an entire book, Sha’lu Shelom Yerushalim, (lot 43) to disproving that Friedlander’s edition was legitimate. (Dr. Shlomo Sprecher Zt”L reprinted the book in 1991 with a new introduction and a biography of R Poltski). Friedlander also published less controversial books including his commentary on the Tosefta (lot 48).

Although not controversial, another attempt to link the present with the past is a curious book, Sefer ha-Brit ha-Hadash, written by Uziel Haga of Boston (lot 130). He petitioned and received permission from President McKinley to accompany the U.S. military on a tour of China. Haga’s purpose was to see first hand and document the lifestyles and customs of Chinese Jews. Among other items, he asserted that the Jews Kaifeng in the Hunan Province are descendants of the Ten Tribes. If his identification is correct, that may explain Jews’ affinity for Chinese cuisine. Haga never made it back from China, he was imprisoned and killed by the Boxers. Although Haga’s book was printed in Pietrekov, one book, Mishberi Yam, (lot 131) was published in China.

Returning to forgeries, the compendium of R. Zechariah Yeshayahu Yolles, Ha-Torah veha-Hayyim, (lot 24), includes his Dover Mesharim that disproves the attribution of a certain work to R. Mordechai Yaffa (Levush). Yolles’ position was vehemently disputed by R. Moshe Sofer (although Yolles defended him in a different controversy) and Sofer’s letter appears in this volume. The book is also noteworthy because it includes a portrait of Yolles in the frontispiece.

Among the books with distinguished owners include a copy of Mishnei Torah that belonged to R. Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, (Beis HaLevi) (lot 151) and R. Hayim Volozhiner’s copy of Mesorot Seyag le-Torah. Most of R. Hayim’s library was destroyed in a fire, but this book had been on loan to R. Yaakov of Ivenitz, and thus was spared the fate of the rest of books. (Regarding the two bibliographical topics of fire and lending, see Abraham Ya’ari, Mehkerei Sefer, 47-54 (discussing books printed after the author was saved from fire) and 179-97 (discussing book lending)). As an aside, the Mesorot Seyag le-Torah also likely contains material that is misattributed to its author. See Wolf Heidenheim, Me’or Eynayim, comments to Exodus 27:17.

New Auction House – Genazym

New Auction House – Genazym
by Dan Rabinowitz, Eliezer Brodt

There is a new auction house, Genazym, that is holding
its inaugural auction next week Monday, December 25th. The
catalog is available here. The majority of the material are letters
and other ephemera with a few dozen books. The books include a number with
vellum bindings (71-75). Appreciation of bindings has been brought to
fore with the recent wider availability of books from the Valmadonna collection
after it was broken up; a collection that was known for its exquisite bindings.[1]

Books with illustrations form another group, including heretical
images. The title-page of the first edition of R. Yedidia Shlomo of
Norzi’s commentary on the biblical mesorah, Minhat Shai, Mantua,
1742-44 (76), includes Moses with horns, but more offensive is the depiction
of God with a human face. The images on the title page are various
biblical vignettes and in the one for the resurrection of the “dry
bones” that appears in Yehkezkel, God is shown as an old man with a white
beard. [2] Another title-page containing non-Jewish imagery is the Smikhat
Hakhamim, Frankfurt, 1704-06 (87). Its title page is replete with
mythological (?) or Christian (?) imagery. [3]

The illustration on the Minchat Shai title page. Note that this is from another copy, not the one on auction.

The kabbalistic work, Raziel haMalach, (77) contains
illustrations of various amulets with various mythical
creatures. [4] Another book with mystical images is the Emek Halakha,
Cracow 1598, (80). Less sensational images, of ships and fauna,
appear in the first Hebrew book to describe America, Iggeret Orkhot
Olam, Prague 1793, (83). [5] R. Tovia ha-Rofeh’s Ma’ase Tovia,
Venice, 1707, (95) contains an elaborate illustration that compares the human
organs with various parts of a house or building. [6]

Of note for its rarity is (88), a first printing of R’ Moshe Chaim Luzzatto’s Derech Tevunot, Amsterdam 1742. The copy is a miniature, and was owned by the great collector Elkan Nathan Adler.

Among the
most controversial books in the history of Jewish literatures the forged Yerushalmi on Kodshim, (likely) written by
Shlomo Yehudah Friedlander (98). There are two versions of the book, one
printed on thick paper and, on a second title page, Friedlander is referred to as
a doctor. The other version is printed on poor paper and lacks the
(presumably bogus) academic credential. The theory behind
the variants is that one was targeted at academic institutions
and the other at traditional Jews. [7] Here is what it looked like:

Here are highlights from some of the letters for sale:

– There are some very interesting manuscript letters from the Chasam Sofer (46), R’ Chaim Sanzer (28) and R’ Meir Premishlan (37) .

– Letters from some of previous generations Litvish gedolim, like R’ Meir Simcha of Dvinsk (Meshech Chocham) (4), R’ Chaim Soloveitchik (2), R’ Raphael Shapiro (6), Chafetz Chaim (10), R’ Shimon Shkop (8), R’ Elchanan Wasserman (1), and the Brisker Rav (3). Many of these letters contain important historical information not found in other sources.

– Also of note are important, extremely rare and lengthy documents from the Rogatchover Gaon (5) and R’ Mordechai Gimpel Yaffe (9) related to the shemita and heter mechira controversies. Another letter of note is from the Minchas Elazar (29) in regard to the inheritance of R’ Alfandri.

[1] Portions of the Valmadonna Trust Collection were auctioned at Kestenbaum
& Co. and Sotheby’s. here, here, here. Regarding the source of those books see here.

[2] The title, Minhat Shai, was imposed by the
printer.  Norzi referred to the work as Goder Peretz.  See
Jordan Penkower, “The First Printed Edition of Nozri’s Introduction to Minhat
Shai, Pisa 1819,” Quntres 1:1 (Winter 2009), 9
n2.  The introduction to Minhat Shai was printed
long after the work itself.  See Penkower, idem.  Moses crowned with horns appears in the earliest
depiction of him to adorn a Hebrew book’s title page.  See “Aaron the
Jewish Bishop,” here.

[3] A very similar title-page appears in two other books,
the first edition of the Teshuvot ha-Bah and Beit
Ahron. Regarding the usage of these title-pages, see Dan
Rabinowitz, “The Two Versions of the Bach’s Responsa, Frankfurt Edition of
1697,” Alei Sefer 21 (2010) 99-111.

[4] David Hanegbi, “The Printed Hebrew Book as a Talisman
and Ritual Object: A Historical and Bibliographical Study in Sefer Razi’el
ha-Malakh and its Editions,” (Ramat Gan:  MA Thesis, Bar-Ilan
University, 2014).  Regarding the prevalence of mythical creatures in
human society see Kathryn Schulz, “Fantastic Beasts and How to Rank
Them,” New Yorker, Nov. 6, 2017 (here).

[5] David Ruderman, The World of a
Renaissance Jew: The Life and Thought of Abraham ben Mordecai
Farissol (Cincinati: Hebrew Union College, 1981).

[6] The book and specifically the image under discussion
was recently analyzed by Etienne Lepicard, “An Alternative to the Cosmic and
Mechanic Metaphors for the Human Body? The House Illustration in Ma’ashe
Tuviyah (1708),” Medical History 52 (2008), 93-105.

[7] For an extensive bibliography of the literature discussing
Friedlander’s edition, see Eliezer Brodt, “Tziyunim u-Meluim le’Mador ‘Netiah
Soferim’” Yeshurun 24 (2011) 454-455.

Interesting Legacy Judaica Auction lots

Legacy Judaica
is holding an auction on June 13, 2017, and we wanted to highlight a few items
of interest (for our previous post regarding the auction house and previous
auctions see here. There are, of course, some old and rare books
from the 16th and early 17th centuries (lots 1-7), and over
forty manuscripts and a number of letters from rabbinical luminaries, R. Yosef
Dov Solovetchik (Beis ha’Levi) (lot 198), R. Yitzhak Ze’ev Solovetchik (Brisker
Rav) (lot 199), R. Hayim Ozer (lot 172), R. Kook (lot 183), R. Henkin, R.
Yechiel Michel Epstein (Arukh ha-Shulkhan) (lot 168), and the Netziv (lots
161-62), (there is also an amulet (lot 163) from his son, R. Chaim Berlin, that
apparently was written at the Netziv’s direction).

Two
particularly important manuscripts relate to the late 18th century
controversy regarding the nascent Chassidic movement. One, lot 84, is a copy of the 1796 letter
condemning Chassidim that is signed by the Gaon, among others (this is a transcript
of the letter and does not contain the Gaon’s actual signature). The second, lot 85, is contains two virulent
letters against Chassidim, both of which have been shown to be forgeries. The first is written in the name of R. Akiva
Eiger, and the second is attributed to R. Yoel of Amtzislav. Wilensky analyzed both and concluded that
they are forged. The document also
includes the (real) transcript of the proclamations of the Bet Din of Shklov
against the Chassidim. Unrelated to the forgery, the various condemnations against
the early Chassidim were the subject of a recent controversy when many of them were
reprinted in a three volume history of the Vilna Gaon, Ha’Gaon. The book was burnt (with hametz) and subject
to bans, one by the Bedatz Bet Din (see our earlier posts here, here, and here).

Other items
include, R. Aaron Shmuel Koidonover, Birkat ha’Zev’ah, Amsterdam, 1669
(lot 12). That book contains a number of
bibliographical items of note. The title page indicates that the book was
printed by two different publishers, the first abandoned because of poor
workmanship. But the identity of the sloppy printer is not provided. This led to complaints by one of the (then) two
Amsterdam publishers, Uri Phoebus. He
alleged that many were wrongly assuming him to be the offending publisher. To address Phoebus, in some number of copies
a page was added that identified the culprit as Joseph Athias, the other
Amsterdam publisher. There was little
love lost between Athias and Phoebus, and ten years later they famously clashed
over competing luxury editions of Yiddish translations of the Bible.

The title page
of the book itself is elaborately illustrated, and depicts at the top, King
David surrounded by two cherubs, and on the sides of the page, four biblical
scenes with corresponding verses relating to various events in David’s
life. A similar title page, although
significantly more controversial appears in the Amsterdam 1706, book, Hemdat
Tzvi. In that instance, however, the
illustrations were used to broadcast the author, Tzvi Hirsch Chotsh’s affinity
for Shabbatai Tzvi (see Bezalel Naor, Post-Sabbatian Sabbatianism,
80-82).

A book related
to Shabbatai Tzvi appears in lot 16, R. Shmuel Aboab’s D’var Sh’mu’el,
Venice 1702. This copy contains the
section, Zikharon L’veni Yisra’el, that provides two documents regarding
the Shabbatai Tzvi episode. Many copies
of this edition lack this section.

The book, Zeh
Sefer Shevach v’Zimra, (lot 124) relates to the Napoleonic wars. This book,
printed in 1796, relates that when Fasano, Italy (it is located in the heel of
the boot), was under siege by Napoleon, the Jews were charged as spies on his
behalf. The Jews holed up in the
synagogue and a mob formed outside. When
all seemed lost, a French cannon went off and the mob was scared off, saving the
Jews. This book contains the story and a
poem written in commemoration of the event that was to be said yearly. Napoleon was a mixed bag for the Jews. Many welcomed him and saw him as an opportunity
to improve the lives of the Jews (some even considered him a messianic
figure). R. Shneur-Zalmen of Lyadi, the
founder of the Habad movement, was famously against Napoleon, and explained
that “if Bonaparte wins, the wealth of the Jews will be increased and their
status raised, but they will be distanced in their hearts from their father in
heaven.” On the other hand – and R.
Shneur-Zalman was writing in the Russian Empire – “if Tsar Alexander wins,
poverty will increase among the Jews, their status will be lower, but they will
be bound and tied in their hearts to their father in heaven.”

For further
information and for online bidding see http://legacyjudaica.bidspirit.com