Bidspirit auction | The Personal Machzor of Maran

The Personal Machzor of Maran the Pnei Menachem of Ger - from His Childhood in the House of His Father the Imrei Enes in Ger, with Signatures and Glosses - A rare and most important Chassidic item - the personal Machzor of the Pnei Menachem of Ger, which he received from his father, the Imrei Emes, when he was a child in Ger, before the destruction of Polish Jewry. He took this Machzor with him to Eretz Yisrael when he escaped Europe with his father after Poland was occupied by Germany.  On the flyleaf, on the inside front board, there are four (!) handwritten signatures of the child, Pinchas Menachem Alter, the beloved son of the leader of Chareidi Jewry and leadign Admor of Poland, Maran the author of the Imrei Emet, who eventually served as the Admor of Ger. Alongside one of the signatures, he noted his place of residence: ”Pinchas Menachem Alter - Ger”.  As stated, the Pnei Menachem took this Machzor with him to Retz Yisrael when he esacped the Calley of Death with his father. In addition to his handwritten signatures, which were written in Ger, there are several places where he stamped the book with his new stamp after arriving in Israel ”Pinchas Menachem Alter - Jerusalem” .  On the leaves of the Machzor, there are doznes (!) of glosses and markings , including additions and skips that are customary among Ger Chassidim. Some of them - mainly the glosses - were handwritten by the child Pinchas Menachem; the script is identical to that of the signatures at the beginning of the Machzor.  Some of the markings, however, were written in different more mature script; possibly, these were handwritten by his father, the Imrei Emes . The Admor of Tolna Shlita, had heard from the Pnei Menachem himself, when he was already the Admor of Ger, that before every Yom Tov, his father used to call him and show him in the Machzor what was to be said, apllying the verse ”Veshinantem Levanechah”:  ”והוסיף הרי״ם שהאד״ש [האדמו”ר הפני מנחם] סיפר לו, כמה שזוכר ומונח לו בעצמות, שלפני כל יו״ט קרא לו אביו זי״ע והראה לו במחזור היכן מתפללים ומה אומרים וכו׳, בהוסיפו: אבי לא היה אדם צעיר, רשכבה״ג, עולם גדול, ולפני כל חג תמיד לא שכח 'ושננתם לבניך', להראות בעצמו לבנו מה לומר במחזור, עד כדי כך חשוב הלימוד לילדים”! Indeed, throughout the Machzor, whenever it is the Ger custom to skip a passage, there is a handwritten ” ד' – ”דילוג and at the end of the passage, the initials ” ע”כ ” – ”עד כאן”.  It is interesting to note that despite the many stains of usage throughout the Machzor - including stains of tears and wine - almost all of its leaves are in excellent condition. Several leaves, however, are an exceptions: they are soaked with tears that cuased small tears along their edges. These leaves are those of the Aravit prayer for Rosh Hashanah and the following Kidush; Parashat haAkeidah before the Shacharit prayer; and the prayer of Hineni HeAni Mima'as before the Mussaf prayer.  Machzor Sefat Emet [poland, ca. 1920s-1930s]. Approx. 280 pp. Mispagination. 12 cm.  Several missing leaves. Many stains of usage throughout the Machzor indicating its frequent use. Most of the leaves are well-preserved except for those specified above, which include leaves with tears - some of them affecting the text.  The Machzor is bound in its original, blemished binding, covered with a new, additional bidning for protection.