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Derekh Ḥayim u-Tokhaḥat Musar by the Mitteler Rebbe נבג״מ — Iași 1859. A unique window into the influence of the Ḥasidim of the Baal ha-Tanya and his successors upon the Romanian circles of Ruzhin, Kosov, and the Iași community of the Ohev Yisrael… - Sefer Derekh Ḥayim u-Tokhaḥat Musar — teachings on repentance, the acceptance of the yoke, and the gravity of sin. By the Mitteler Rebbe of Chabad, our master Rabbi Dov Ber נבג״מ, son and successor of the Baal ha-Tanya. Printed by the disciple and intimate of the Baal ha-Tanya, the Mitteler Rebbe, and the Tzemach Tzedek — the Chabad leader of Romania, the gaon and ḥasid Rabbi Yitzḥak Moshe of Iași. Printed by Rabbi Zvi Goldner — Iași 1859. Derekh Ḥayim is one of the fundamental books of Chabad Ḥasidut. It demands a very elevated level of inward service and self-subjugation, and throughout the generations was regarded as “a book for men of spiritual ascent.” The Lubavitcher Rebbe recommended studying it in the month of Elul. Its bringer to the press, the gaon and ḥasid Rabbi Yitzḥak Moshe of Iași, was a disciple of the Alter Rebbe, the Mitteler Rebbe, and the Tzemach Tzedek נבג״מ. He lived to over one hundred years. He undertook the printing of this work two years before his passing in 1861. Iași possessed a large Chabad community, and two Chabad works were printed there — the famous Iași Tanya and the present work Derekh Ḥayim — attesting to its great importance. On this printing: “In 1859, another Ḥasidic work was printed in Iași: Sefer Derekh Ḥayim by the Mitteler Rebbe, which was ‘brought to press by the renowned ḥasid Rabbi Yitzḥak Moshe son of Rabbi Shmuel of Iași.’ At the end of the book appear the names of those whose hearts moved them to acquire Derekh Ḥayim of our master, and about 355 individuals are listed, along with nine synagogues and study houses in the cities of Romania: Vaslui, Bârlad, Dăcăți, Berești, Podișor, Newe-Ivești, Pașcani, Bacău, Piatra Neamț, and Podul-Iloaei.” Rabbi Yitzḥak Moshe of Iași: In Beit Rebbe it is written: “The renowned gaon and ḥasid Rabbi Moshe Yitzḥak [correct: Yitzḥak Moshe] of Iași, whose name was great and widely praised among our people, was among the young ḥasidim of our great master נ״ע. Afterwards he was bound with extraordinary closeness to our master [the Mitteler Rebbe], and our master cherished him greatly. He was one of the three of whom our master said that in them he had accomplished — אויסגעפיהרט — the intention of his work… After our master’s passing he became attached to his son-in-law, the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek נ״ע, and was esteemed and held in closeness by him, and he would say Torah to him in private audience.” “I heard from the grandson of the holy Rabbi Yitzḥak Moshe of Iași נ״ע that when his grandfather once stood before the holy Ruzhiner, he sensed that the Ruzhiner was drawing him with mighty cords so that he would agree to remain his disciple; he pictured in his mind the image of his own master, the Mitteler Rebbe נ״ע — and the Ruzhiner said to him: איר האט זיך גיגעבן אן עצה.” “On one occasion, the son of RIM was asked by the Tzemach Tzedek, in a private audience, whether he remembered a story from his father. After some thought he answered that he could tell a story, though he did not know its meaning — only the plain facts. Late in his life, RIM once returned from the bathhouse on the eve of the Sabbath. Passing through the market of Iași he lifted his eyes heavenward and gazed, and suddenly cried out for someone to bring him a chair. A chair was fetched from a nearby shop, for they thought the heat of the bath had harmed him, and they asked if they should summon a doctor. ‘There is no need, ’ he replied; ‘leave me.’ Thus he sat for half an hour, his head resting on his staff and his eyes closed. He again looked upward, rose, and continued on his way. ‘And none of us knows the secret of these matters, ’ concluded the son. Asked by the Tzemach Tzedek on which eve of Sabbath this occurred, the son answered — whereupon the Tzemach Tzedek smiled and said: ‘At that very hour the wedding canopy in Zhlobin took place, in the presence of the awesome mechutanim, our master the Alter Rebbe and the holy Rebbe of Barditchev. Beneath the canopy our master delivered the discourse “כי על כל כבוד חופה, ” and all the angels gathered as in the songs of bridegroom and bride — and your father merited to hear that discourse!’” In the letters of the Rayatz (vol. III, p. 229) it is written that among the writings of RIM should be manuscripts of the Alter Rebbe, the Mitteler Rebbe, and the Tzemach Tzedek in their own holy script, besides the copies. Inscription on the flyleaf: ”זה הספר דרך חיים מי שקונה אותם יתן הש”י חיים טובים ו... מי הוא זה שקונה אותם מי שיש לו מחשבה טובה לילך בדרך ד' לעבוד אותו בטוב לבב ובאימה וביראה ... מאהבה. ומי הוא זה שרוצה לקנות זה הספר הוא ה”ה ר”ק מעיר פאלטשאן שמואל מרדכי בלאאמ”ו אהרן משה ... בזכות אדמו”ר הרב הגדול המפורסם מו”ה דוב בער נ”ע ובזכות הרב החסיד ...