The Library of Hacham Ovadia Yosef A"H boarded up to prevent "souvenir takers" during Shivah

The library of the Rav during the Shiva

6000 People were said to have come to pay their respects after the passing of Hacham Ovadia Yosef A"H. The massive library of the Hacham including thousands of volumes with the Hacham's handwritten notes, were boarded up for the duration of the Shiva to prevent anyone who in an emotional outburst might find it fitting to take home a book as as souvenir.

The Journalist Moshe Zamir suggested that the library was boarded up for another reason, to keep the Kabbalistic aspect of the Hacham hidden, the Hacham's Kabbalistic books and manuscripts. It is said that he left over in manuscript a commentary on Etz Hayyim of R. Haim Vital and much else, and for now, the family wants to keep it under covers. 

A forgotten 18th Century Manuscript Haggadah discovered in Osem Soup Carton

                                                                                                         news source: The Times of Israel


When a North Manchester resident took a few items to an antique auction house in Macclesfield in July, nothing of particular value was discovered. But after hearing a casual mention of several more items at home, a representative made an appointment for a field visit.

William Forrest from Adam Partridge Antiques took a tour of the Manchester residence and when he came to the garage, was handed an old Osem soup carton filled with Hebrew books. ”Is there anything you can do with these?” he was asked.

Though not an expert in Hebrew manuscripts, Forrest says he immediately knew he was holding something special.

Inside the hand-painted Haggadah was inscribed: No 47 Exposition du Alvert Hall (a reference to a catalog listing at the Anglo-Jewish Exhibition at the Albert Hall in 1887); Written 5486 – 1726; Written by Aaron son of Benjamin Woolf for Mendel Oppenheim.

Initial research actually dates the rare goatskin vellum volume to 1725, and points to it having been written and illuminated by Aaron Wolf ben Benjamin Zeev Schreiber Herlingen of Wewitz. Herlingen was a scribe and illustrator who also held an official position at the Imperial Library in Vienna.

“We are really excited about this remarkable find,” says antique auction house owner, Adam Partridge. Known for his BBC TV appearances on “Flog it” and “Cash in the Attic,” Partridge says the haggadah “has been greeted with huge excitement by a number of senior rabbis and people in the community to whom we have shown it.”

According to the auction house, a similar Wolf haggadah from the Cornelius J Hauck Collection, when listed in a 2006 Christies sale in New York, sold for an unexpected $408,000, though it was estimated to sell for $100,000 to $150,000.

The “Manchester Garage Haggadah” will be listed at the Partridge Judaica sale on November 22.

It “is certain to reach a six-figure sum,” says Partridge.

Not too shabby for a neglected volume stored in a soup carton.

Moses Mendelssohn Letter sold Oct 3, 2013 at Skinner's Auction IS APPARENTLY A FORGERY ! buyer paid $5,100 for a fake

On Oct 03, Skinner held a Judaica Auction, lot 22 was a letter written by Moses Mendelssohn, which sold for $5,100. This letter is a apparently a Forgery, or an early copy, sold unknowingly by Skinner. The lot was sold as part of the collection of the leading Zionist, Nahum Goldmann, who passed away in 1982.

This is a great accusation to make, but after reviewing the facts, the conclusion seems indisputable.

THE PHOTO OF THE LETTER AS IT APPEARED IN AUCTION CATALOG

Above is the photo as it appears in the auction catalog. Unbeknown to the catalogers, this letter was written to Rabbi Yaakov Emden, and was published by Rabbi Yaakov Emden in התאבקות published in 1762. As is known, Mendelssohn referred to R. Emden as his Rabbi and their correspondence regarding delaying burial according to halacha appears in She'elat Yaavetz, Emden's responsa. Thankfully I have the Renaissance Hebraica facsimile of Emden's book and was able to look up the original letter as Emden transcribed it. Below is a photograph of Emden's transcription of the Letter he received from Mendelssohn as it appears on דף קסב in התאבקות.

3 lines into the letter R. Yaakov Emden notes in parentheses that "from this point on, the letter was burnt"  מכאן ואילך נשרף והאריך בענין כת הטומאה של ש"צ שר"י שהם גרועים מחזירי יער עד
In the copy of the letter, most likely copied in the 19th century from התאבקות the letter is complete and nothing is burnt or missing !

Jehoshua Pierce, a dealer who specializes in this field and who has seen numerous Mendelssohn pieces informed me that he independently made the conclusion that the handwriting on the letter offered was not of Mendelssohn. For comparison, see below a letter in the Leo Baeck Collection written by Mendelssohn.

A MENDELSSOHN LETTER FROM THE LEO BAECK COLLECTION

In addition, there are differences in the actual handwriting of the one offered for sale and Mendelssohn's known handwriting, as well as several grammar differences from Mendelssohn's own style. For example, Berlin is spelled on the above letter בערלין while Mendelssohn wrote is as ברלין, and see the header of the page which has the acronym בע"ה while Mendelssohn wrote is as ב"ה.


I think we can safely assume that the sale of this letter was done unknowingly by all parties involved, but this case just reinforces what most of us already know, that even auction houses can err. A buyer of anything, especially of something of such historical importance should do his own diligence in evaluating the item offered.

Many Thanks to Yosef Goldman for discovering the original letter in התאבקות and sharing with me the source and pointing out the difference.

Yichus as a selling point for a book, but at times, used selectively 1914 צוואת דוד/כתר ראש

It is now familiar practice for authors to tout on the title pages of their book their lineage, often in larger font than their own names, to a point where it can be hard to discern who the actual author is.

In 1914, Rabbi Shlomo Yehuda Leib Hacohen Ashkenazi published 2 works printed in 1 volume, צוואת דוד containing the will of his father, and כתר ראש which contains stories of the Vilna Gaon heard from R. Chaim of Volozhin. Interestingly, the author states different parts of his lineage in the 2 works he published, for the צוואת דוד he states he is a descendant of the Chacham Tzvi, and in the book on the Vilna Gaon he states he is a descendant of the Vilna Gaon. Presumably this was done to appeal to family members of both branches, each for the book that would relate to them.

Siddur dated to 840 A.D. Said to be discovered, owned by David Green (accused of antisemitism)

The Green Collection, owned by American billionaire David Green, owner of Hobby Lobby  (recently accused of antisemitism for not stocking Jewish merchandise) recently announced that they discovered in their collection a Jewish prayerbook dated to 840 a.d. with Carbon-14 testing. This would be by far the earliest copy of the Siddur which we would have knowledge of to date, and would should much light on the history and development of our Siddur.

Unfortunately, the Green Collection did not release much details and delayed the detailed announcement of the finding and that details will be released in late 2014 or early 2015 by the Green Scholars Initiative, so we will never know for sure until then regarding the details. The document is described as being in its complete parchment and original binding, factoids that are quite stunning considering its age. Written in Hebrew, the script is described as “archaic” — so old in fact that it uses Babylonian vowel pointing (a system that is no longer in use).

Dr. Stephen Pfann, a senior scholar with the Green Scholars Initiative and president of The University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem, along with his students participating in the research project, made the initial discovery among other items from The Green Collection.

To date, Pfann’s team has been able to identify six distinct sections in the siddur, including: 100 blessings/morning prayers (the earliest form of what is in today’s Jewish prayer books, even older than those of Rabbis Amram Gaon and Saadia Gaon); the Passover Haggadah; a poem on the Song of Songs in conjunction with Sukkot; a poem on the End Times (apocalyptic text of an international battle); a poetic form of the book of Zerubbabel; and a unique section entitled, “Salvation in Zion”

We will have to wait it out to see the details of this Siddur, though if true, should be able to shed much light on to the development of many of our prayers.

The Jewish prayer book (Photo Credit: The Green Collection/Demoss)

 This news comes only months after the oldest complete scroll of the Torah from 1155-1225 has been discovered in the University of Bologna library, where it had been mistakenly catalogued a century ago as dating from the 17th century.

In this undated photo provided by Alma mater Studiorum Universita’ di Bologna, a document that an Italian expert says to be the oldest known complete Torah scroll. In an interview Wednesday, May 29, 2013 Perani said he immediately recognized that it had been wrongly dated given its script and other graphic notations. Two separate carbon-14 dating tests confirmed the revised dating. (Photo: AP/Alma Mater Studiorum Universita’ di Bologna)

"In a telephone interview Wednesday, Perani said he was updating the library’s Hebrew manuscript catalogue when he stumbled upon the scroll in February. He said he immediately recognized the scroll had been wrongly dated by the last cataloguer in 1889, because he recognized that its script and other graphic notations were far older. 

Specifically, he said the scroll doesn’t take into account the rabbinical rules that standardized how the Pentateuch should be copied that were established by Maimonides in the late 12th century. The scroll contains many features and markings that would be forbidden under those rules, he said."

If a thief is caught stealing a book, he must pay back sevenfold! - ספר עיני העדה by רב אליהו הכהן of Izmir

In 1863, Sefer Eine Ha'Edah an extensive commentary on the Torah, by Rabbi Eliyahu HaKohen of Izmir, was published for the first time, 134 years after the author passed away. In Parashat Mishpatim (pg 117:) the author explains the verse in Mishle לא יָבוּזוּ לַגַּנָּב, כִּי יִגְנוֹב לְמַלֵּא נַפְשׁוֹ כִּי יִרְעָב. וְנִמְצָא - יְשַׁלֵּם שִׁבְעָתָיִם, אֶת כָּל הוֹן בֵּיתוֹ יִתֵּן
which translates as: People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his soul when he is hungry, but if he is caught, he will pay seven-fold; he will give all the goods of his house.

R. Eliyahu asks 3 questions on the Pasuk, Why does the verse say to satisfy his soul and not his appetite? why does he have to pay 7 times, more than someone who is גונב שור או שה? and why does the Pasuk go on to say, he will have to pay all the goods in his house?
To answer this, Rabbi Eliyahu explains that the Pasuk is referring to someone who stole a Sefer; and the verse is explained in such a manner: do not despise a thief if he steals a book to satisfy his soul, because his soul yearns for study and he has no books, as learning from a book fills one's soul. If though, he is found to have such a book in his house of his own, he will pay seven-fold, as it is discovered that he stole, not for study, but rather to resell. Since there is no way to pay back for time lost from studying Torah, he must pay back all he owes to try to repay the owner for his loss.

The unusual stringency of a "Gadol Ehad" when his wife went to the Mikvah, mentioned by Rabbi Avraham David Wahrman of Buczacz

in 1879, the only edition of קונטרס אמרות טהורות by Rabbi Avraham David Wahrman of Buczacz was published in Lemberg. It has the halachot of Niddah appearing in Hebrew on the top of the page and a translation and commentary in Yiddish on bottom of every page.
Here is from Halacha ב in the Sefer
"גדול אחד ז"ל עמד על אשתו בחפיפתה לטבילתה שלא יהיה הצער גורם שיהיו קצת..."

It was the custom of a "Gadol" to accompany and view his wife on her trip to the Mikvah to ensure the pain that might be caused by cleaning herself thoroughly before dipping would not prevent her from doing it correctly.
Interestingly, the author made the decision of omitting this passage in the Yiddish translation thus preventing the women readers of this book to learn of this custom.

(There is a widespread theory that when many authors mentioned an anonymous "גדול אחד" they often referred to themselves, though this is surely not always the case.)

I have since found written by R. Chaim Elazar Shapira in Darke Teshuva that he writes how he heard from his grandfather R. Shlomo, that is was wrong for the publishers to print this book, as they did not check many of the things that he wrote for himself only and not to be published for the public.
"לא יפה עשו מדפיסי הקונטרס ולא בדקו הרבה דברים שרשמם רק לעצמו ולא לרבים"
(מאורי גלציה ח"ב עמ 956)

The Wisdom of Rabbi Asher Anshel Kraus and how he prevented a plane crash - a modern Hasidishe Ma'ase

In 1980, Rabbi Asher Anshel Kraus, the Ratzfert Rebbe and editor of the "Di Torah Velt" made a trip to the Holy Land and Hamaor published a detailed description of his trip spanning several issues of the Journal.
On page 37 of the Tishre-Heshvan 5781 issue of Hamaor describes the plane trip of the Rebbe and his hasidim and notes the Rebbe's great wisdom.
"The Rebbe asked them (his talmidim) with a microphone that they should not all crown in one spot (around him) on the place, so as not to put too much weight on one side of the plane and there will be a great danger chas veshalom of the plane tipping over".

Thank God the talmidim had the wisdom to listen and from what I know, the plane made it safely to Israel.
I researched high and low and could find no source for his fears though, and it appears that there is no possibility of a plane tipping in such circumstances.

Rav Shimon Cohen - The bookseller in Yeshivat Etz Chaim, Jerusalem (1870s) & Maskilim whom he bred within the Yeshiva

In 1930, מגנזי ירושלים-חוברת ז was published including much interesting material regarding life in the Old Yishuv of Jerusalem. On page 35 begins an anonymous memoir of someone who was a Talmid in Yeshivat Etz Chaim in the 1860s and 1870s in the period when Rabbi Moshe Nechemia Kahanov was Rosh Yeshiva (Otzar HaRabbanim 15592). He describes a Rav in the Yeshiva named R. Shimon Cohen, a big Ba'al Ta'avah - for Sefarim. "He rarely ever learned at all, and even so he had great knowledge and was a bookseller. He knew all types of books, who authored them and what they were about, if they are available and when and how many times they were published, perhaps even more then Ben-Yaakov of Vilna. And when he found a book he did not have, he did not fight over the price and did not rest until he bought it. His books were bound beautifully, but I believe he never opened them"

He goes on to detail R. Shimon Cohen's stall in the northern wall of the Yeshiva selling all types of books, partnered by the Rosh Yeshiva's own nephew. Between the books were also books of the Haskalah, and one student bought from them מסתרי פריז of Eugène Sue and Ohr Layesharim and through them became a Maskil.

The Yeshiva students were jointly subscribers to Halevanon and HaMaggid, two Hebrew newspapers of the time, and the Rosh Yeshiva himself, Rabbi Moshe Nechemia Kahanov would read them publicly.

Every Erev Shabbat, the Rosh Yeshiva would read Shnayim Mikra with the Sefer Torah of the Yeshiva and with Mendelssohn's Beur!

Quite different times from Etz Chaim of Today where any deviation from the modern Haredi code of life can get your name plastered on every available wall in the city.

What some Booksellers do for a living

Avraham Engelsher, a bookseller in Warsaw was a famed used and new bookseller and publisher. He published the Teshuvot Tzofnat Paneach of the Rogatchover Gaon among much else. Apparently, even then, a bookseller didn't have it financially made, so Engelsher ran a parallel Herring Store down the block. His notice at the end of the Teshuvot Tzofnat Paneach tells customers to look for him at his Herring Store if his bookstore is closed.

Hat Tip: Dr S. Sprecher