Bidspirit auction | Kol Aryeh, First edition, printed

Kol Aryeh, First edition, printed by the famed Jerusalem printer R. Yisrael Bak – bearing the signature of R. Yaakov Bibas - Kol Aryeh “The book Kol Aryeh, a work of sharp and intricate pilpul on various sugyot of the Babylonian Talmud, authored by the rabbi, our teacher Rabbi Aryeh Leib Ḥarif of blessed memory, who served as Av Beit Din and Rosh Metivta in the holy community of Homla. These writings had been hidden and concealed… until his grandson (Rabbi Shneor Zalman ben Menachem Mendel of the Holy City of Hebron) arrived, with the aid of heavenly benefactors… the brothers Senior Abdallah Meir and his siblings, generous men who poured gold from their pockets for the printing of this edition, in honor of their father, the late Senior David Sasson.” The book bears the sacred signature of Rabbi Yaakov Bibas of blessed memory, one of the sages of the Western (Moroccan) community, who ascended to Jerusalem together with Rabbi David ben Shimon (the Devash), and who passed away at a young age. The book was acquired from his estate by Rabbi Yosef HaKohen, who later oversaw the publication of Rabbi Yaakov Bibas’s writings. Jerusalem – Printing House of Rabbi Yisrael Bak (details below) 1866 The book contains two title pages. On the abbreviated preliminary title page, the name of the printer is missing, and the date is encoded as אריה שאג מי לא יירא לפ״ק, corresponding to 1862. Approbations from: Rabbi Ḥaim David Ḥazan; Rabbi Ḥai Rafael Yedidya Abulafia; Rabbi David ben Shimon; Rabbi Eliyahu Saliman Mani; Rabbi Moshe Neḥemia Kohen (correctly: Kahanov); dated Tevet 1866. The sons of the great Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn of Lubavitch (the “Tzemach Tzedek”): Rabbi Baruch Shalom, Rabbi Yehuda Leib (the Rebbe of Kapust), Rabbi Ḥaim Shneor Zalman (the Rebbe of Liadi), Rabbi Yisrael Naḥum (the Mahar”in of Niezin), and Rabbi Shmuel (the Rebbe Maharash). Rabbi Zalman Ze’ev, Maggid Meisharim of Vilna. Rabbi Yitzḥak Eizik, Av Beit Din of Vitebsk. Rabbi Meir Leibush – the Malbim. Rabbi Yisrael of Salant. The Maharil Diskin. Rabbi Akiva Lehren. The Aruch LaNer. Rabbi Natan Adler. Rabbi Asher Stern, Av Beit Din of Hamburg. Following the approbations appears the introduction by the one who brought the manuscript to print, Rabbi Shneor Zalman Mendilovich, dated Tevet 1866. This introduction contains detailed accounts of his many travels. At the end of the approbations appears a peculiar stamp. Rabbi Yaakov Bibas: Ownership notes: On the first title page: “I purchased this from the estate of the rabbi, our teacher Rabbi Yaakov Bibas of blessed memory. Signed: the servant of God, Yosef HaKohen, may he live.” On the second title page: “Dedicated to the service of my Creator by the young Yaakov Bibas, may he be sheltered.” About Rabbi Yaakov Bibas it is written (Sh. Dayan, Ḥakhmei HaMa’arav beYerushalayim, p. 109): “Among the most outstanding students of the Tzuf Devash [Rabbi David ben Shimon, 1826–1880], we must mention the distinguished rabbi, the great scholar Rabbi Yaakov Bibas of blessed memory, born in Rabat–Saleh (Morocco), who joined his teacher and ascended with him to Jerusalem. In time R. Yaakov became renowned as one of the notable rabbis of the Western community, a prominent and active leader. He authored She’erit Yaakov, a commentary on several tractates of the Talmud, as well as collections on the Rambam, the Shulḥan Arukh (Orach Ḥaim and Yoreh De’ah), and some responsa on Ḥoshen Mishpat. “This work was later published by his disciple R. Yosef HaKohen of blessed memory, together with the book Sha’arei Torah, ethical teachings on the virtues and honor of the Torah, Jerusalem 1880. In the approbations to that book it is stated that Rabbi Yaakov Bibas of blessed memory was the one who established and instituted in the Western community that they pray every day at sunrise.” It appears that R. Yaakov Bibas passed away at a young age, for in the introduction to She’erit Yaakov, R. Yosef HaKohen writes that he left behind a son and daughter who were not yet married. The Printing House of Rabbi Yisrael Bak: R. Yisrael Bak was among the first Hebrew printers in the Land of Israel, and the first to establish a printing press in Jerusalem. He viewed his work as sacred, referring to his press as a “printing altar.” In the introduction to his early works he wrote: “I printed them in holiness and purity, for the letters I created were fashioned with the wisdom granted to me by God.” In his later years he wrote: “I do not speak to glorify my own deeds, for it is He Who gives me strength to accomplish. My printing house is holy, for all the letters and all the instruments required are fashioned by my own hand. Nowhere in my press will you find even a single letter made by another, and certainly none made by gentiles, for the letters are sacred. One must intend properly during their creation, for with them the heavens and earth were fashioned, though I, in my own limited understanding,