Auction 111 Rare Books, Manuscripts, Letters of Rabbis and Rebbes
Dec 11, 2018 (Your local time)
Israel
 3 Shatner Center 1st Floor Givat Shaul Jerusalem
The auction has ended

LOT 64:

Shulchan HaTahor, Yisrael Bek Press. Safed, 1836. First Edition

Sold for: $550
Start price:
$ 500
Estimated price:
$800 - $1,000
Auction house commission: 22%
VAT: On commission only
tags:

Shulchan HaTahor. Summary of the 613 mitzvot of Maimonides, as arranged by the Shach, divided into 30 days of the month, with supplements from the Talmud, Zohar and more, by Rabbi Nissim Zerachya Azulai. Yisrael Bek Press. Safed, [1836]. First edition.

Rabbi Yisrael Bek only printed six books in Safed before moving his press to Jerusalem. This was the last book he printed in Safed. The chronogram emphasizes the word "Jerusalem," alluding to his plan to move.

Rabbi Nissim Zerachya, the author, was the only son of Rabbi Avraham Azoulay, the son of the Chid"a. He was born in Jerusalem prior to 1780, and stayed with the Chid"a in Leghorn in 1803. He then moved to Turkey where he served as Av Beit Din in Magnesia, next to Izmir, and became friendly with Rabbi Chaim Palaji, who quoted some of his Torah thoughts and attributed many honorifics to him. He then immigrated to the Land of Israel and settled in Safed, where he served as adjudicator in the city. He was one of those who gave an approbation to Rabbi Yisrael of Sklow's Peat Shulchan. Rabbi Nissim Zerachya was killed in the earthquake of 1837. It is related that when he was found amongst the ruins wrapped in a tallit and tefillin with crushed legs, he said that he was the last reincarnation of King Asa who was lame, and then his soul left him. Upon his passing, the Chid"a's kabbalistic manuscripts that he possessed were lost. In his work regarding laws related to meals, he quotes many ideas from his grandfather, the Chid"a.

44 leaves, 15 cm. Fine condition. New binding with gilt embossing.