Bidspirit auction | The Only Hebrew Sefer Printed

The Only Hebrew Sefer Printed in Cleves: Or Yisrael. Cleves, 1770. Only Edition - The Cleves Get Controversy – The only Hebrew sefer ever printed in the town of Cleves (Kleve), Germany. The Polemic of the “Famous Get of Cleves” The background to the writing and printing of this work is the celebrated “Get of Cleves” controversy, a major eighteenth-century rabbinic dispute. The case centered on a bill of divorce arranged by Rabbi Israel Lipschitz, rabbi of Cleves and grandfather of the author of Tiferet Yisrael, for a couple from Bonn. The husband, who was considered somewhat mentally unstable, fled Germany for England out of fear for his life. On his journey he divorced his wife in the city of Cleves. The rabbis of Frankfurt and Mannheim invalidated the divorce, arguing that the husband was not mentally competent to issue a valid divorce (get shoteh), and they published sharp proclamations against Rabbi Lipschitz. In contrast, most of the leading rabbinic authorities of the generation - including Rabbi Aryeh Leib Ginzburg, Rabbi Yitzchak of Hamburg, Rabbi Shaul of Amsterdam, his uncle Rabbi Jacob Emden, and Rabbi Ezekiel Landau - supported Rabbi Lipschitz’s ruling that the husband was legally competent and that the divorce was valid. The sefer is devoted largely to this controversy and its aftermath. In the introduction, Rabbi Lipschitz describes in detail the campaign waged against him by opponents of the divorce, and throughout the work he presents the arguments and responsa supporting his decision to validate the get. This volume is particularly significant as the only Hebrew sefer ever printed in Cleves, since all Hebrew presses in German lands reportedly refused to print the work in order to avoid taking sides in the dispute. 31, 33-66, 69-120 Leaves. 18.6 Cm.