Bidspirit auction | A rare volume of Novardok

A rare volume of Novardok — 14 issues of Ḥayyei ha-Mussar printed by the Beit Yosef–Novardok Yeshivah in Ostrowiec, 1936–1938, together with an additional pamphlet, El Ha-Mevakesh. - A rare collection of Mussar leaflets issued by the Novardok Yeshivah in Ostrowiec, containing shmuessen delivered by the Alter of Novardok, the Alter of Kelm, and many other giants of Mussar from that era. The Novardok Yeshivah was founded by Rabbi Yosef Yoizel Horowitz (1847–1919), disciple of the holy gaon Rabbi Yisrael of Salant and the holy gaon Rabbi Simḥah Zissel Ziv, the Sabba of Kelm. It soon grew into one of the largest and most influential yeshivah networks in pre-war Europe, encompassing dozens of branches and thousands of students. Among its renowned graduates who served God with profound self-sacrifice were Rabbi Yeḥezkel Abramsky, Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, the Steipler, and many others. Ḥayyei ha-Mussar was published by the members of the Beit Yosef Yeshivah in Ostrowiec. These issues contain teachings spoken by saintly, eminent figures known for their devotion to spreading Torah hand in hand with Mussar. From these pages one perceives how young scholars studied with self-sacrifice and personal hardship, how deep was their comradeship, how they withstood severe tests, and how they rose to lofty heights in faith, trust, and refinement of character. The leaflets are composed of essays gathered from many Mussar personalities, each shaped in a different house of Mussar, following its own method and path. They fulfilled within themselves the prophet’s words: ”אז נדברו יראי ה' איש אל רעהו ויקשב ה' וישמע ויכתב ספר זכרון לפניו ליראי ה' ולחשבי שמו”, and thus merited that their words became, in a sense, a written Torah — so that even today one may warm oneself by that same fire of Torah and Mussar, the remnant of that sacred flame which endured among them.