Entries from The Diary of a Jewish Bookseller, March 2018

There are numerous reasons people have for building rare book collections, but one I encountered recently, was totally new to me. I discovered, that a customer who was buying a number of rare books for me, was using the books as a method to hide money from his wife, whom he is now divorcing.

A newly married young man came in with request for some help. His father-in-law is coming in for a first visit to their new home, and he desperately needed to fill his bookcase with some classic sefarim. There is only one chance for first impressions and he wanted to make sure he got it right.

A young man who is a regular visitor to the store, brought along his date on his latest store visit. The relationship was getting serious, and he didn't want her to have any unpleasant surprises after he got married. They left after a few hours browsing through books, her pile of books being slightly higher than his.

A Satmar teenager visits the store and in Yinglish asks me for books on Israeli Soldiers and the history of IDF.

An older gentleman, walked in off the street, made his way all the way to the back of the store, passing aisles and aisles of books. He proceeded to ask me, "Do you sell books?", to which I responded that actually we are just preparing flammables for a bonfire.

A first time customer tells me that now, that he is "done Jewish Philosophy", if I can please help him find books on Jewish History.

Two customers, in conversation in the store, discovered they both write anonymously to the same Jewish Periodical, under various aliases. After much hesitation, and inner turmoil, they revealed to each other their pen-names. For one of them, this being the very first time he has outed himself in public. Fearful of repercussions from his insular community for his "open minded" writing, he insisted this information remain a secret, lest his family be made to suffer.

A prominent Jewish organization contacted me, looking to purchase a gift for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We settled on 2 first editions of works of the Abarbanel. Bibi's father, Ben-Zion Netanyahu, wrote his dissertation and published a biography of the Abarbanel. I received word that the gift was a great hit with the Prime Minister.

The following pair of Rabbinic portraits came with a book collection I acquired, though I have not had success in identifying them. Any help from you readers, would be greatly appreciated.

We recently acquired several fine collections of Haggadot, we currently have over 1000 different Haggadot available.
You can view them all here
http://stores.ebay.com/Jewish-Bookshop/_i.html…
Hebrew ones can be viewed here
http://stores.ebay.com/Jewish-Bo…/Religious-Hebrew-/_i.html…
with Perushim here
http://stores.ebay.com/Jewish-Booksh…/Hebrew-books-/_i.html…
English ones here
http://stores.ebay.com/Jewis…/English-Jewish-books-/_i.html…
and antiquarian and rare Haggadot here
http://stores.ebay.com/Jewis…/Antique-Jewish-books-/_i.html…
As always, they can be purchased online or over the phone at 347-492-6508, and can be either picked up from our store or shipped.
An early Hag Sameach

Noted posek, R. Nota Greenblatt, perusing rare works on Gittin at Mizrahi Bookstore

Remember the Sabbath day זכור את יום השבת, in a modern Maskil's fashion

Jewish History is rife with mass conversions to other religions and assimilation but the phenomenon of Jews who abandon their religion but are stuck up their neck in their Jewishness is a 18th and 19th century mostly European phenomenon. One of the few survivors of this breed is Prof. David Assaf, who inscribed a copy of a work he edited to Prof. Allan Nadler, with the following opening lines:
שבת קודש.. בעיצומו של יום
Shabbat Kodesh... in the middle of the Day

He signs off
רב ומגיד שיעור בבית המדרש דת"א דמתקרי אוניברסיטאט תל אביב

a 1920s Biegeleisen Bookstore catalog of exclusively Haskalah works

I came across recently an old and rather insightful Biegeleisen book-list from the old days when the business was in Boro-Park, before their move to the Lower East Side and eventual return to Boro-Park, Brooklyn. The list of over 1000 items, containing just Hebrew works of Haskalah literature, is a fascinating look in to the tastes and wide range of interests of Jews in Boro-Park of the day, something which may come as a shock to it's current inhabitants.

Much can be seen from what Mr Biegeleisen determined to be classified as Haskalah. Some of the expected authors are there, Krochmal, Sholem Aleichem, Ephraim Deinard, Bialik, Levinson but also many authors which not be expected. Some of these include R. Abraham Isaac Kook, R. Yehuda Aryeh De Modena, and R. Haim Hirschensohn. Somehow, Joseph Klasuner's book on Jesus, titled ישו הנוצרי makes a showing more than once as well.

a Talmud Yerushalmi, inscribed to and owned by a woman

It is unusual to see Rabbinic works owned by women, even more so a complex talmudic commentary such as this work I found, inscribed to her by the author. The book was a Talmud Yerushalmi, with commentaries, tractate Shabbat, with additional commentaries by R. Meyer Abovitz, published for the first time. It was published in 1926, Vilna.

On free-end, is an inscription by the author to his relative, Ronia Brooks and her husband, inscribed and signed by the author.

the inscription reads למזכרת לשארת בשרי האשה הכבודה והחשובה מרת ראניע ברוקס תחי' ולבעלה הנכבד מאת ש"ב המחבר

בשנים עשר לחדש סיון ה' תרפ"ו

Meyer Abovitz (מאיר בן ישעיהו אבוביץ; alternate spelling Meir Abowitz; born 1876 - died 1941) was a Rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva active in Mizrachi in Eastern Europe between the Two World Wars

An unusual title for a practical guide to Amulets, titled נחש הנחשת

The ongoing debate regarding the use of amulets in Judaism, will most likely be going on eternally. One book which I recently acquired, seems to sum it all up in it's title. The book, titled נחש הנחשת, being the bronze serpent on a pole, which Moshe Rabbenu made to protect the Jews from fiery serpents which God has sent to punish them, "עֲשֵׂה לְךָ שָׂרָף וְשִׂים אֹתוֹ עַל-נֵס; וְהָיָה כָּל-הַנָּשׁוּךְ - וְרָאָה אֹתוֹ, וָחָי".

In Melachim, King Hezekiah institutes an iconoclastic reform that requires the destruction of "the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan". The term means "a brazen thing, a mere piece of brass". M. G. Easton noted that "the lapse of nearly one thousand years had invested the 'brazen serpent' with a mysterious sanctity; and in order to deliver the people from their infatuation, and impress them with the idea of its worthlessness, Hezekiah called it, in contempt, 'Nehushtan', a brazen thing, a mere piece of brass" "וְכִתַּת נְחַשׁ הַנְּחֹשֶׁת אֲשֶׁר-עָשָׂה מֹשֶׁה, כִּי עַד-הַיָּמִים הָהֵמָּה הָיוּ בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל מְקַטְּרִים לוֹ; וַיִּקְרָא-לוֹ נְחֻשְׁתָּן".

This book, contains a very practical guide to writing amulets, love lotions, magical remedies, and lotteries to determine the future. Following the title page, appears a stark warning from the publisher, stating that much calamity can be forthcoming from using such a book and he only published it to fulfill the wishes of the author, רבי שלום כתר. The author testifies in his introduction, that there is no need to actually use the book, just having it in your home, will bring protection and blessings to it's owner. Perhaps there can be no better title for such a book, that though well-intentioned, can result in idolatry and superstitious beliefs, far removed from Judaism.

Lottery ticket from the Jewish Community of Parur, India

Stuck in an old tome, I found a tiny window into the life of the Jews of Parur (now known as Paravur), Cochin, India.

The lithographed lottery ticket, which came at a cost of four Indian Anna (1/16th of a Rupee), was to benefit the Jewish Education Committee of Parur. The rules for the winner seem to be rather complex, and the list of prizes varied from a silk Tallit, to a pair of Tefillin, gilt-edged prayer books and a pocket watch.

Pages from the History of Artscroll Publishing, the "Artscroll suitcase"

On two recent occasions, I acquired along with libraries purchased, 2 different "Artscroll Suitcases". These suitcases were given out to former and potential mega-donors at the dinner, March 2005, which celebrated the completion of the Artscroll Babylonian Shas. The suitcase included a Commemorative Journal, the evening dinner schedule, an Artscroll Pen, Artscroll Birchon, a history of the Artscroll Talmud, along with presentation copies of the final volume of the Babylonian and the first of the Jerusalem Talmud.

In a sign of the changing times, at the most recent such Artscroll gathering of donors, each prospective donor received an iPad with access to all of Artscroll's e-books. Though the Jewish Publishing world has so far resisting much of the shift towards the electronic books, Artscroll seems to be now focusing more on these projects. It may soon be a common sight to walk in to a Bet Medrash and see 20 Ba'ale Batim learning Daf-Yomi with no books in sight.