Tzemach David – Salonika, 1811 – Copy of Rebbe Yoel of Satmar

Tzemach David – Salonika, 1811 – Copy of Rebbe Yoel of Satmar

Tzemach David, homilies on the Torah, Part II – on the Books of Bamidbar-Devarim, Neviim and Ketuvim, by R. Yosef David author of Responsa Beit David. Salonika, [1811]. Only edition. With Mashma'ut Dorshim and Klalei HaTalmud.
Copy of Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar. Stamps of the rebbe on the title page and other leaves, with the inscription: "Rabbi of Karoly and the region".
[1], 141, 29 leaves. 27.5 cm. Overall good condition. Stains and wear. Worming (affecting text of final nine leaves of second sequence). Stamp. New leather binding.
The first part of this book – homilies on the Books of Bereshit, Shemot and Vayikra, was printed in Salonika in 1785, and the present book comprises part II, printed many years later.

Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar (1887-1979) was the youngest son of Rebbe Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the Kedushat Yom Tov (1836-1904), and grandson of Rebbe Yekutiel Yehuda, the Yitav Lev (1808-1883), who both served as rabbis of Sighet (Sighetu Marmației) and were leaders of Chassidic Jewry in the Maramureș region.

He was renowned from his youth as a leading Torah scholar of his generation, for his perspicacity and intellectual capacities, as well as for his holiness and outstanding purity. At a young age, he was appointed rabbi of Irshava. In 1925, he was appointed rabbi of Karaly (Carei; in place of R. Shaul Brach who went to serve as rabbi of Kashoi), and in 1934, of Satmar (Satu Mare). In all the places he served as rabbi, he also maintained a large yeshiva and Chassidic court. He stood at the helm of the faithful, uncompromising Orthodox Jewry in the Maramureș region. He was one of the founding pillars of the Torah world in the generation following the Holocaust. After surviving the Holocaust, he emigrated to the United States, where he established the Satmar Chassidic community – the largest Chassidic community in the world. He served as president of the Eda HaCharedit in Jerusalem, and as leader of Orthodox Jewry in the United States and throughout the world. His writings were published in dozens of books: VaYoel Moshe, Responsa Divrei Yoel, Divrei Yoel on the Torah and more.

The Holiness of Items of Tzaddikim – In the Teachings of Rebbe Yoel of Satmar

In his writings, Rebbe Yoel of Satmar repeatedly relates to the holiness contained in the possessions of a Tzaddik; and conversely to the prohibition of benefitting from the money of the wicked, warning not to accept funding from the Zionist state and the like.

In several places in his book Divrei Yoel on the Torah, the Rebbe describes the tremendous virtue of the belongings of the Tzaddik, which have the power to endow holiness for generations, since the "sparks of holiness" endure in them. Based on this concept, the Rebbe explains Yosef's influence on the Egyptians, who were sustained from his produce during the famine and drew from it "spiritual vibrancy": "…the property of Tzaddikim has the power to impart spiritual vibrancy…" (Divrei Yoel, Shemot, p. 33). Regarding the "aspect of holiness" contained in the belongings of Tzaddikim from "the root of their soul", he writes: "The possessions of Tzaddikim are precious to them… since they contain an aspect of the root of their soul… as they are particular not to steal…" (Divrei Yoel, Vayetze, p. 92).