Bidspirit auction | The Renowned Bnei Yissaschar —

The Renowned Bnei Yissaschar — First Edition — Complete, Splendid Set! The famed sefer Bnei Yissaschar — ma’amarei Chassidus and Kabbalah on the mo’adim and the cycle of the year— by the heilige Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech Shapiro ZYA”A, Av Beis Din Munkatch and Dinov! Volume I — Chelek Sheini On the months Tishrei–Adar. Printed in Zolkiew, 1846 — without a title page! In this printing, only Chelek Sheini appeared. Volume II — Chelek Rishon On Shabbos and the months Nissan–Av. Printed in Zolkeve, 1850. In the set before us, the second chelek precedes the first — for Chelek Rishon was printed only four years later! The time of printing appears in the colophon: “וַתֻּגְמַר הַמְּלָאכָה בְּיוֹם ג׳, כ״ג אִיָּר תקצ״ו…” A first printing shrouded in mystery! • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Why the First Edition Appeared Without a Title Page! The first printing of Chelek Sheini appeared without a sha’ar because the censor refused to grant permission for the sefer to be printed — due to a remarkable ma’aseh! This was related by the gaon hatzaddik R’ Yisroel Freund ZT”L, Av Beis Din Hunyad. When the Bnei Yissaschar was still Rav in Ribititch, he once spent Shabbos Parshas Vayishlach in the town of Vielkatch. A certain lamdan there, Yosef Torler, made a cynical remark during the leining. As Rabbeinu read the posuk “Al kein lo yochlu Bnei Yisroel es gid ha’nasheh” with fiery hisorerus, Torler quipped mockingly “Good thing the malach didn’t touch the שפיץ ברוסט — otherwise Yidden would also be forbidden to eat brisket!” The room laughed. Rabbeinu did not! Rabbeinu sensed something was amiss. After the leining he inquired, and upon hearing what was said, he responded: “If that is what he said — he will yet become a meshumad, rachmana litzlan.” Torler, enraged, traveled to the Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Horowitz ZYA”A, claiming: “In Ribititch there is a ‘rebbe’ who says I will become a kofer!” The Ropshitzer, perceiving the kefirah within him, replied: “If that is what the Rav of Ribititch said — it is a mitzvah to heed the words of chachamim!” The words of tzaddikim are never in vain! A short time later, Torler indeed fell into severe troubles, debts, and pressure from the authorities, and ultimately converted, r”l. Exactly as Rabbeinu had foreseen! In time, he rose to prominence and was appointed as a censor in Lvov. Years later, when they sought to print Bnei Yissaschar, he refused to grant a license, saying: “Through him I was forced to convert — and I should allow his sefer to be printed?!” And so the sefer could not receive a license! Only with great difficulty was the sefer eventually printed — without a title page, to conceal the place and year of printing! It later became known that Torler had already in his youth been involved with heretical circles, which Rabbeinu had discerned with his ruach hakodesh. A story preserved in the mesorah of the tzaddikim!