Bidspirit auction | Rabbeinu Yerucham – Sefer Toldot

Rabbeinu Yerucham – Sefer Toldot Adam VeChava and Meysharim. Venice, 1553 – Glosses by the Holy Rabbi Binyamin Rabinowitz ABD Pukeliai, Šilalė, and Wiłkomierz. - Sefer Toldot Adam VeChava – Sefer Meysharim, by Rabbeinu Yerucham ben Meshullam. Venice, 1553. Printed by Alvise Bragadin. Antique ownership inscription stating that the sefer belongs to Rabbi Ze’ev Wolf, Av Beit Din of Garubin, near Memel. Rabbi Ze’ev Wolf, son of Rabbi Reuven Robinson , was born around 1819 and served as rabbi in Grobina (Garubin) for about 60 years, until his passing in 1879. He later sold the sefer to the Av Beit Din of Pukeliai, who was also Av Beit Din of Šilalė. The Holy Gaon Rabbi Binyamin Rabinowitz was born in 1814 in the city of Skuodas, and was a student of the great Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Broide of Salant. In 1832, at the age of 18, he was appointed rabbi of Pikelin (Pikeliai, Pukeliai, Pikiele). From there, in 1852  he was appointed rabbi of Shilel (Szyłele) and in 1859 he became rabbi of Ragoli (Ariogala), a city previously served by the great Rabbi Eliyahu of Ragoli, and in 1861 he moved to serve in Vilkomir (Ukmergė, Wiłkomierz), where he remained until his passing in 1870. He was renowned as a saintly and pure man, who completed a tractate of the Talmud every day before lunch, and finished the entire Talmud every month. He would only eat bread at a seudat mitzvah and never took off his clothes during the week except for Torah study, to which he was wholly dedicated day and night. Even early in his rabbinic career, his community recognized that, aside from his greatness in Torah, humility, and exceptional righteousness, he also had wisdom and leadership to manage communal affairs effectively. While he himself was modest and soft-hearted, when it came to his role as a leader, he was bold and unwavering in the ways of God and unafraid to uphold halachah. His sons were the famous twin Torah giants: the Aderet and Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Rabinowitz. With several antique important marginalia in his holy hand. Antique signature: Meir ben his Israel Leib Ries z”l. (R. Israel Leib Reis is mentioned as a gabbai of the Talmud Torah in Berlin in 1806) The sefer includes three sections: ”Adam” – dealing with topics from Orach Chaim and Yoreh De'ah. ”Chava” – covering Even HaEzer. ”Meysharim” – on Choshen Mishpat. The Chida in his sefer Shem HaGedolim relates a wondrous tradition he received from the elders in Jerusalem: that this sefer belongs to the mystical realm of the ”hidden world” (Alma D’itkasya). Also, the Maggid  of the Beit Yosef referred to Rabbeinu Yerucham as ”Yerucham Tamiri” – meaning ”hidden Yerucham” (see Maggid Meisharim, Parashat Vayakhel). The sefer is of great significance, as it serves as a primary source for understanding the words of the Rosh (Rabbeinu Asher). Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin writes this explicitly in his approbation to the Kapust edition (1808). Throughout the generations, great rabbis longed to learn this sefer, which was extremely rare. Rebbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev wrote that it was impossible to find copies, ”not even worn-out ones”. Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin likewise noted: ”This precious sefer cannot be found even one per city.” Rabbeinu Yerucham was among the great early sages and a student of the Rosh (Rabbeinu Asher). His sefer Toldot Adam VeChava became one of the foundational texts of halachah (Jewish law), and there is hardly a page in the Beit Yosef that does not quote his words! 16, 13–238; 104 leaves. Separate title page for Sefer Meysharim. Large format: 30.7 cm.