Bidspirit auction | Shivchei HaAri - the Press

Shivchei HaAri - the Press of Rabbi Yisrael Bak Jerusalem, 1864 Bound with 2 Additional Mussar Books. Copy of the Rav of Safed - Sefer Shivchei HaAri, ”authored by Rabbi Chaim Vital”. Actually, the book was not authored by him; rather, it is based on letters by Rabbi Shlomo Shlomil, known as Meinsterl, a Jew from Ashkenaz, the son of Rabbi Chaim and son-in-law of Rabbi Yisrael Sarug. Rabbi Shlomo immigrated to Safed and during the years 1607-1609 wrote enthusiastic letters praising Eretz Yisrael, the Ari and the sages of Safed. These letters are used a source of information on Safed and its history in that period. ”At the quality press of the Rav the printer Rabbi Yisrael Bak... with the printing press that was the gift of Moshe [Montefiore]... here in Jerusalem [1864]”. 24 leaves. 16 cm. Shoshana Halevi 103. 3 fine engravings of Jerusalem, the Temple and Hebron. An open tear to the title page. Stains. Some moth perforations. Good overall condition.  Bound with Sefer Kav Hayashar, apparently Lemberg - 1858. Rare, bibliographically unrecorded edition. Incomplete copy: the title page and apparently the following leaf are missing as well as leaves 17-18 of Section I.  And Sefer Messilat Yesharim, Warsaw - 1871. Incomplete at its end. Moth perforations and some moth damage. Detached leaves. Old binding with a detached leather spine. Taping affecting the text of several leaves. Fair overall condition.  Throughout the book, the signatures of Rabbi Avraham Yehuda Leib Zilberman (1889-1948) the Chief Rabbi of Safed for thirty years. The grandson of Rabbi Raphael Zilberman who served as the Chief Rabbi of the Ashkenazic community of Safed. Rabbi Zilberman continued the traditions of the rabbis of the Zilberman family and served as a Shali'ach of the Admorim of Boyan for lighting the bonfire on the roof of Rashbi's gravesite on Lag BaOmer.