Bidspirit auction | Manuscript of the Yismach Moshe.

Manuscript of the Yismach Moshe. Shinova, 1791 . * A leaf from the most famous teshuva of Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum, Av Beis Din of Ujhel, author of Yismach Moshe, containing a long passage of seventeen lines written in his holy handwriting. The teshuva was sent to the holy gaon Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Liska, father of Rabbi Naftali of Ropshitz. Concerning this teshuva, his grandson, the Yetev Lev, testified in Shu”t Heishiv Moshe that he heard from his grandfather, the Yismach Moshe, that Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Linsk sent this teshuva to his brother-in-law, the gaon of geonim Rabbi Meshulam Igra, and after reading it he proclaimed, “Moshe is truth and his Torah is truth.” His grandson, Rabbi Yaakov Yukel Teitelbaum of Volove, in his booklet Tehillah LeMoshe, singled out this teshuva as clear testimony to Rabbi Moshe’s greatness, already in his youth. The question was sent to him by Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Linsk when he was only thirty years old, when he was Av Beis Din of Shinova, and he addressed him with extraordinary titles. At the same time, Rabbi Menachem Mendel also sent it to the Noda B’Yehuda (Even HaEzer, second edition, siman 9), who at that time was the Gadol Hador and close to seventy years of age. This teshuva of the Yismach Moshe, concerning a woman about whom rumors had spread, was printed in his teshuvos Heishiv Moshe (Even HaEzer, siman 60). It is the longest teshuva in Shu”t Heishiv Moshe and in the first edition spans thirty-eight pages. It is arranged in three chapters — Derech HaYam, Derech HaKramim, and Derech HaZeisim — and each chapter is divided into sub-chapters. He encompassed within it all the approaches of the Rishonim and the Achronim with immense pilpul and in a wonderfully organized manner. The present leaf is from the second chapter, Derech HaKramim, sub-chapters ten through twelve. *** The Holiness of the Handwriting of the Yismach Moshe It was well known among chassidim that the Yismach Moshe would sanctify the quill he wrote with and perform yichudim to his Creator. His grandson, Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, writes: “It is accepted in our family tradition that my honorable and holy grandfather, of blessed memory, said of himself that he did not perform any act until it was told to him from Heaven to do so” (Vayoel Moshe, Ma'amar Eretz Yisrael, siman 120). Indeed, in the present teshuva, he concludes, “as they showed me from Heaven.” Regarding the sanctity of his handwriting, Rabbi Yair Schwartzman relates what he saw with his own eyes: “When Rabbi Yoel of Satmar visited Eretz Yisrael in 1952, he stayed in Tel Aviv with the distinguished philanthropist Rabbi Yechiel Benedikt, of blessed memory. I saw that they brought before him a sheet the size of a book page, which was a sacred manuscript of his grandfather the Yismach Moshe. He went over it line by line with awesome concentration, and when he finished, he began again, and so a third time. Afterwards, he bowed his head and held it thus for a long time. I heard the chassidim whispering to one another to be quiet, for the Rebbe was sleeping — but I thought to myself that the Rebbe was burning like a kettle of boiling water, and they say he is sleeping! But I saw his face aflame like a torch of fire, his head bent downward in deep dveikus (Yehi Or, Jerusalem, 1998, letter 585). Provenance of the Manuscript The teshuva was preserved by the recipient, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Linsk, and remained in excellent condition in the hands of his descendants, generation after generation, in the following order: · His son Rabbi Naftali Tzvi of Ropshitz, author of Zerah Kodesh; · His firstborn son Rabbi Avraham Chaim of Linsk; · His son-in-law Rabbi Yisrael of Barnov; · His son Rabbi Avraham Simcha of Barnov; · His son-in-law Rabbi Mordechai Shapira of Beresht; · His son Rabbi Elazar Shapira of Kiviashd; and · His son-in-law Rabbi Yitzchak Aizik of Kiviashd. Now, with siyata dishmaya, it has been deposited with the Genazym Auction House. Shinova, 1791. One leaf, size 21 × 34 cm, written on both sides, seventeen lines in the author’s holy handwriting. Attached is an authorization from Rabbi Moshe Yaakov Tzitrenenbaum in the name of his father Rabbi Shmerel Tzitrenenbaum. Condition: A few stains and tiny tears, almost without loss. Preserved in an ornate leather binding. The Yismach Moshe Rabbeinu Moshe Teitelbaum, Av Beis Din of Ujhel (1759–1841), was a gaon, kabbalist, and holy man of God. He was the patriarch of the illustrious Sighet–Satmar dynasty. He was a miracle worker and possessor of ruach hakodesh. His amulets and protections became known throughout the far corners of the earth, and many were saved through them. As written in the introduction to Tehillah LeMoshe: “The pen grows weary from describing the deeds and wonders performed through the amulets that came from him.” In 1784, at the age of twenty-five, he was accepted to the rabbinate of Shinova in place of Rabbi Shmelke of Nikolsburg,